Joseph Mallord William Turner Paris: The Hôtel de Ville and Pont d'Arcole c.1833
Joseph Mallord William Turner,
Paris: The Hôtel de Ville and Pont d'Arcole
c.1833
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Paris: The Hôtel de Ville and Pont d’Arcole c.1833
D24684
Turner Bequest CCLIX 119
Turner Bequest CCLIX 119
Gouache and watercolour on blue paper, 142 x 192 mm
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX – 119’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX – 119’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Exhibition history
1904
National Gallery, London, various dates to at least 1904 (143, as ‘Paris: Hôtel de Ville and Pont d’Arcole (Dog-Market in Foreground)’).
1937
Aquarelles de Turner, oeuvres de Blake/Englischen Graphiken und Aquarellen: W. Blake und J.M.W. Turner, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, January–February 1937, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna, March–April (96a).
1947
Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling in het Stedelijk Museum te Amsterdam georganiseerd door de Tate Gallery voor de British Council, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 1947 (53a).
1947
William Turner 1775–1851: Die Ausstellung wurde von der Tate Gallery für den British Council organisiert, Berner Kunstmuseum, Bern, December 1947–February 1948 (53a).
1948
Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling van schilderijen ingericht door de Tate Gallery voor The British Council in het Ministerie van Openbaar Onderwijs van Belgie, Palais voor Schone Kunst, Brussels and Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Liège, March–April 1948 (53a).
1948
Turner 1775–1851: Exposition de peintures organisée par la Tate Gallery pour le British Council, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, ?March 1948 (53a).
1951
Aquarelle aus dem Turner-Nachlass im Britischen Museum veranstaltet vom British Council, Düsseldorf, Wiesbaden, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg: September or October 1950–March 1951, and September 1951–April 1952 (12[a]).
1961
J.W.M. [sic] Turner 1775–1851: Watercolours: On Loan to the National Gallery of Victoria on the Occasion of its Centenary from the Turner Bequest by Courtesy of the Trustees and Director of the British Museum, London, with the Assistance of the British Council, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, September–October 1961, National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, October–November (17a).
1970
Turner: Watercolours Lent by the British Museum, Musée Provisoire d’Art Moderne, Brussels, November 1970–January 1971 (17).
1979
Exposicion del gran pintor ingles, William Turner: Oleos y acuarelas: Collecciones de la Tate Gallery, British Museum y otros museos ingleses, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, August–September 1979 (BM 41).
1981
Turner en France: aquarelles, peintures, dessins, gravures, carnets de croquis / Turner in France: Watercolours, Paintings, Drawings, Engravings, Sketchbooks, Centre Culturel du Marais, Paris, October 1981–January 1982 (143).
1983
Turner and the Human Figure: Watercolours from the Turner Bequest, Loaned by the British Museum, Tate Gallery, London, December 1983–July 1984.
1999
Turner on the Seine, Tate Gallery, London, June–October 1999, Pavillon des Arts, Paris, October 1999–January 2000, Musée Malraux, Le Havre, March–June (148).
2007
Hockney on Turner Watercolours, Tate Britain, London, June 2007–February 2008 (no number).
2016
Turner’s Urban Landscapes, Tate Britain, London, July 2016–May 2018 (no catalogue).
References
1834
Spectator, 6 December 1834, p.1167.
1903
Charles Holme ed., Robert de la Sizeranne, Walter Shaw Sparrow and others, The Genius of J.M.W. Turner, R.A., London, Paris and New York 1903 pl.91 (W31).
1904
E.T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn eds., Library Edition: The Works of John Ruskin: Volume XIII: Turner: The Harbours of England; Catalogues and Notes, London 1904, pp.387, 614 no.143, as ‘Paris: Hôtel de Ville and Pont d’Arcole (Dog-Market in Foreground)’.
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.II, p.795, CCLIX 119, as ‘Paris: Hôtel de Ville and Pont d’Arcole’.
1913
W[illiam] G[eorge] Rawlinson, The Engraved Work of J.M.W. Turner, R.A., vol.II, London 1913, p.275 under no.488.
1937
Laurence Binyon, Ausstellung von englischen Graphiken und Aquarellen: W. Blake und J.M.W. Turner, exhibition catalogue, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna 1937, p.27 no.96a.
1947
[Humphrey Brooke], Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling in het Stedelijk Museum te Amsterdam georganiseerd door de Tate Gallery voor de British Council, exhibition catalogue, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 1947, p.27 no.53a.
1947
[Humphrey Brooke], William Turner 1775–1851: Die Ausstellung wurde von der Tate Gallery für den British Council organisiert, exhibition catalogue, Berner Kunstmuseum, Bern 1947, p.22 no.53a.
1948
[Humphrey Brooke], Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling van schilderijen ingericht door de Tate Gallery voor The British Council in het Ministerie van Openbaar Onderwijs van Belgie, exhibition catalogue, Palais voor Schone Kunst, Brussels and Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Liège (‘Luik’) 1948, p.[24] no.53a.
1948
[Humphrey Brooke], Turner 1775–1851: Exposition de peintures organisée par la Tate Gallery pour le British Council, exhibition catalogue, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris 1948, p.22 no.53a.
1950
J. Isaacs, Aquarelle aus dem Turner-Nachlass im Britischen Museum veranstaltet vom British Council, exhibition British Council German tour, 1950, p.12 no.12(a).
1961
J. Isaacs, J.W.M. [sic] Turner 1775–1851: Watercolours: On Loan to the National Gallery of Victoria on the Occasion of its Centenary from the Turner Bequest by Courtesy of the Trustees and Director of the British Museum, London, with the Assistance of the British Council, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 1961, p.[15] no.17a.
1970
Luke Herrmann, Turner: Watercolours Lent by the British Museum, exhibition catalogue, Musée Provisoire d’Art Moderne, Brussels 1970, p.9 no.17.
1977
Nicholas J. Alfrey, ‘Turner and the French Rivers’, unpublished MA Report, Courtauld Institute, University of London 1977, pp.54–5.
1977
Andrew Wilton, Turner Watercolors: An Exhibition of Works Loaned by The Trustees of the British Museum, exhibition catalogue, Cleveland Museum of Art 1977, p.57 under no.38.
1979
John Gage, Exposicion del gran pintor ingles, William Turner: Oleos y acuarelas: Collecciones de la Tate Gallery, British Museum y otros museos ingleses, exhibition catalogue, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City 1979, p.37 reproduced.
1832
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.416 no.986, reproduced, as ‘Paris: Hôtel de Ville and Pont d’Arcole c.1832’.
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, no.143, p.456, fig.917.
1982
Andrew Wilton, Turner Abroad: France; Italy; Germany; Switzerland, London 1982, pp.19, 50 no.56, pl.56 (colour).
1990
Luke Herrmann, Turner Prints: The Engraved Work of J.M.W. Turner, Oxford 1990, p.179.
1993
Eric M. Lee, Translations: Turner and Printmaking, exhibition catalogue, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven 1993, p.43 under no.183.
1999
Ian Warrell, Turner on the Seine, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1999, pp.69, 80, 230, 235–6, 257 note 28, 278 no.148, fig.238 (colour).
2007
David Blayney Brown, Turner Watercolours, exhibition catalogue, Tate Britain, London 2007, pp.15, 16, reproduced pp.[89] (detail), 91 (colour).
2007
Simon Grant (ed.) and David Blayney Brown, Hockney on Turner Watercolours, exhibition catalogue, Tate Britain, London 2007, reproduced p.45 (colour).
Engraved:
By Thomas Jeavons in 1834, published in 1835.
By Thomas Jeavons in 1834, published in 1835.
In this watercolour, Turner presents a view over the Pont d’Arcole bridge spanning the River Seine in central Paris, France. Turner portrays the bridge stretching over the mid-ground, with light falling dramatically onto its tower at centre and lighting up its right side. The background is filled with tall Parisian buildings, including the Hôtel de Ville (the city hall). Turner places the viewer in the heart of the multi-layered and busy city and its activities. Figures are indicated on the bridge, boats on the water, and further figures along the various levels of the quayside – whether in the foreground, down by the water’s edge or from a balcony overlooking the scene from the bottom far right corner. Figures in the foreground face the viewer. Women on the left sit on the ground enveloped by dogs and children; another woman at right carries a dog. Turner includes a sign next to one of the seated women which bears the inscription ‘chiens’, the French word for dogs. The full title of this watercolour refers to the dog market in the foreground. This part of Paris was known for poodle groomers, as well as tooth pullers, and assorted other vendors.
Verso:
Previous records note inscriptions in gouache ‘19 | Pont Arcole and Pont Moulin | Hotel de Ville Paris’ and in pencil ‘16’; however, at the time of writing the watercolour was on display and the back therefore not available for examination and confirmation.
Caroline South
November 2017
How to cite
Caroline South, ‘Paris: The Hôtel de Ville and Pont d’Arcole c.1833 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2017, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2019, https://www