Joseph Mallord William Turner Harfleur ?1829
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 6 Recto:
Harfleur ?1829
D23709
Turner Bequest CCLIII 6
Turner Bequest CCLIII 6
Pencil on pale cream laid paper, 107 x 156 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘6’ bottom left descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLIII – 6’ bottom left descending vertically
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘6’ bottom left descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLIII – 6’ bottom left descending vertically
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
References
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.II, p.768, CCLIII 6, as ‘Harfleur’.
1999
Ian Warrell, Turner on the Seine, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1999, p.270 under no.78.
1981
Maurice Guillaud, Nicholas Alfrey, Andrew Wilton and others, Turner en France: aquarelles, peintures, dessins, gravures, carnets de croquis / Turner in France: Watercolours, Paintings, Drawings, Engravings, Sketchbooks, exhibition catalogue, Centre Culturel du Marais, Paris 1981, fig.664, p.326.
The page contains a sketch, drawn horizontally, of a street-scene in the town of Harfleur. Finberg identified this sketch as being of ‘Harfleur’1and the location has been confirmed2 (for further information on Harfleur, see under folio 1 recto, D23699). A bridge spans the River Lézarde at the centre, above which rises a church tower, recognisable from its shape and the decorative details conveyed as that of the Church of Saint-Martin (for further information on the church, see under folio 2 verso; D23702). Turner’s viewpoint is directly above the river.
Houses, some half-timbered, such as the one to the right of the church, surround the church and bridge on either side. Turner concentrates on details of the church tower, and the upper parts of the buildings, the shapes of their roofs, the skyline they form, but also on the arch of the bridge below which draws the eye into the scene. Art historian Ian Warrell notes3 that Turner used this preliminary sketch for his later watercolour The Church of Saint-Martin at Harfleur, Normandy, c.1832 (Tate D24651; Turner Bequest CCLIX 86).
Technical notes:
The page is creased at the bottom right corner.
Caroline South
May 2017
How to cite
Caroline South, ‘Harfleur ?1829 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2017, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2019, https://www