View from the Terrace of a Villa at Niton Isle of Wight

This is a 1826 painting by Joseph Mallord William Turner which reconfirms his love of the Isle of Wight - a location which provided the inspiration for a large number of paintings from a variety of different genres.

This composition captures a view from a terrace across private grounds, down to a natural beach scene on the Isle of Wight. The private garden is indicated by the small walls which designate this area, and there are also some trees and shrubs which have been carefully landscaped in order to keep things tidy, but also relatively natural in appearance. The artist uses some of these trees to create a shadow which comes in from the right, whilst the rest of the painting is saturated in light. The sky itself is blue an bright, whilst the sea laps against the shore relatively aggressively.

Research has shown that the artist made use of preparatory watercolours by one of his pupils in the planning of this painting. It was Lady Julia Gordon, a rare female student, who was to have put together a series of technically impressive watercolours that must have caught his eye. He knew the island well already, and so may have recognised this particular view. The villa from which we see this view was actually her own, representing how she required a prominent role within society in order to obtain this high profile type of training as a female within society at that time. The painting can be found in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, US. They also have a number of other key artists represented here too, including the likes of Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony Van Dyck and El Greco.

This was far from the only artwork produced by Turner in the Isle of Wight. See the likes of Carisbrook Castle, Isle of Wight and Cowes, Isle of Wight for examples of other works from this beautiful island that has also inspired a number of other British artists over the years. Also of note, was this painting title Eugène Manet on the Isle of Wight from Berthe Morisot, a member of the Impressionist group and one of the prominent female contributors. This shows that some French artists were also aware of this location and willing to use it in their work.