J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Southern Germany, Austria and Venice ... > Venice up to Trento Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Alpine Mountain Scenes, with a Distant Castle or Village 1833

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Alpine Mountain Scenes, with a Distant Castle or Village’ 1833
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 7 Recto:
Alpine Mountain Scenes, with a Distant Castle or Village 1833
D31609
Turner Bequest CCCXII 7
Pencil on white laid paper, 109 x 203 mm
Inscribed by C.F. Bell in black ink ‘7.’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCCXII – 7’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There are two mountain views, drawn with the page both ways. The main subject is horizontal, with indications of a castle or perhaps a village on the brow of a hill in the middle distance, with a skyline of higher peaks beyond. To the right, at right-angles, is a slighter study with the dark accent of a tower or perhaps trees towards the right.
Over half of the pages in this book comprise relatively slight sketches from Turner’s homeward route north through the valleys of the Alps via Trento, Bolzano (Bozen) and Innsbruck. As set out in the Introduction, although his overall itinerary is clear from many identified subjects, they were are not drawn in a single sequence, making the rugged scenes between them difficult to place.

Matthew Imms
May 2019

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Alpine Mountain Scenes, with a Distant Castle or Village 1833 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2019, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2023, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-alpine-mountain-scenes-with-a-distant-castle-or-village-r1203807, accessed 05 July 2024.