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

This is one of twenty-eight sketches of mountain scenes (some including castles and other buildings) on the rectos and versos of sixteen pieces of grey paper torn carefully from a single sheet; they were likely all made in the vicinity of Innsbruck within a short period around 23 September 1833, when Turner was travelling back from Venice towards the end of his tour, as discussed in the Introduction to the present subsection.1

Here there are various scattered notes of colour and light effects above and below the rugged valley scene, with white highlights on the distant peaks. The one on the right is emphasised, and a zigzag it below shows the reflection (as Turner noted) in water from the moon, low over the skyline. It is shown in several similar sketches; for the others and how the moon’s phase fits with the late September date, see under D33697 (CCCXLI 18v), perhaps drawn on the same occasion.

There are comparable notes on D33696, D33847, D33859 and D33866 (CCCXLIV 18, 159, 166, 170v).

Technical notes:

There is some slight brown staining.

Verso:

Blank; inscribed in pencil ‘233 | O’ top left, upside down relative to recto. There is slight brown staining in places.