Ruskin 's purchase of Turner 's watercolour Rouen, from St. Catherine's Hill, on 2 February 1857, was an event of considerable significance for him, and his excitement is conveyed in his correspondence with Ellen Heaton at the time ( Surtees, Sublime and Instructive, pp. 205-207), as shown in the following extracts:
29 January 1857: 'Great purchase not concluded yet'.
31 January 1857: 'Great Purchase is going on: but not settled yet'. Ruskin then lists what he hopes for 'in great purchase', including the Rouen.
2 February 1857:' Rouen and Dinant are secured.... It is this Rouen [sketch] and I'm in such a state of excitement I don't know what to do'
4 February 1857: 'I was excited merely by securing and having always near me that drawing'.
Writing to Richard Gray on 10 July 1865 concerning the Rouen watercolour, Ruskin remarked that 'The Rouen is still mine, and as long as I have eyes or brains will remain so' ( Works, 38.332). It remained with him to the end of his life. (See also Ruskin's purchase of Rivers of France drawings.)