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

Here Turner depicts the Walloon city of Huy from surrounding hillsides to the north. The citadel, built in 1818 by the Dutch, occupies a commanding position atop the crest of a tor. Beneath it, towards the left, is the tower of the Gothic Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame. Other churches and local buildings have been roughly sketched into the valley floor. The foreground is peopled with various figures; to the left locals drive carts up a track and to the right Turner has jotted in two seated figures looking out over the view. Drawn minimally with just two or three curled lines, Turner captures their postures instantly: an example of the artist’s aptitude for pictorial shorthand.