This composition has been executed with pencil, black chalk and white gouache on a greyish-buff coloured wove paper. The black chalk drawing was applied first, followed by the pencil. The gouache wash was applied last. Strong, swift lines and heavy shading are evident in this work. The roughly cut top edge of the sheet indicates removal from a sketchbook.
Some light damage is evident, since in the past this image was covered with a window mount and displayed light for too long. This damage is irreversible and has permanently altered the colour of the paper, slightly impairing the intended contrast of greyish background, black chalk shading and white gouache. Other works in the same group show a greater alteration, the paper having turned brown.
Helen Evans
December 2008
Revised by Joyce Townsend
February 2011
How to cite
Helen Evans, 'Technique and Condition', December 2008, revised by Joyce Townsend, February 2011, in David Blayney Brown, ‘?The Entrance to the Chartreuse 1802 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2011, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, August 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-entrance-to-the-chartreuse-r1146468, accessed 27 September 2024.