Joseph Mallord William Turner Ville de Thun c.1806-7
Joseph Mallord William Turner,
Ville de Thun
c.1806-7
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Ville de Thun circa 1806–7
D08160
Turner Bequest CXVIII F
Turner Bequest CXVIII F
Pencil and watercolour on off-white wove writing paper, 182 x 264 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom left
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom left
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Exhibition history
1904
National Gallery, London, various dates to at least 1904 (475, as ‘Castle of Thun, Switzerland’).
1921
The Liber Studiorum by Turner: Drawings, Etchings, and First State Mezzotint Engravings with Some Additional Engravers’ Proofs and 51 of the Original Copperplates, National Gallery, Millbank [Tate Gallery], London, November 1921–November 1922 (not in catalogue).
1922
Original Drawings, Etchings, Mezzotints, and Copperplates for the “Liber Studiorum” by J.M.W. Turner, R.A., Whitworth Institute Art Galleries, Manchester, December 1922–March 1923 (not in catalogue).
1947
William Turner 1775–1851: Die Ausstellung wurde von der Tate Gallery für den British Council organisiert, Berner Kunstmuseum, Bern, December 1947–February 1948 (74).
1976
Turner und die Schweiz, Kunsthaus, Zürich, October 1976–January 1977 (28).
Engraved:
Etching and mezzotint by Turner and Thomas Hodgetts, ‘Ville de Thun; – Switzerland.’, published Turner, 1 January 1816
Etching and mezzotint by Turner and Thomas Hodgetts, ‘Ville de Thun; – Switzerland.’, published Turner, 1 January 1816
References
1859
John Burnet and Peter Cunningham, Turner and his Works: Illustrated with Examples from his Pictures, and Critical Remarks on his Principles of Painting, 2nd ed., revised by Henry Murray, London 1859, p.121 no.4.
1861
Turner’s Liber Studiorum. Photographs from the Thirty Original Drawings by J.M.W. Turner, R.A. in the South Kensington Museum. Published under the Authority of the Department of Science and Art, London and Manchester 1861, reproduced pl.[19], as ‘Thun, Switzerland’.
1862
Walter Thornbury, The Life of J.M.W. Turner, R.A. Founded on Letters and Papers Furnished by his Friends and Fellow-Academicians, London 1862 [1861], vol.II, p.388 no.15, as ‘Thun, Switzerland’.
1872
[J.E. Taylor and Henry Vaughan], Exhibition Illustrative of Turner’s Liber Studiorum, Containing Choice Impressions of the First States, Etchings, Touched Proofs, together with the Unpublished Plates, and a Few Original Drawings for the Work, exhibition catalogue, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London 1872, p.40 under no.59.
1878
W[illiam] G[eorge] Rawlinson, Turner’s Liber Studiorum, A Description and a Catalogue, London 1878, p.120 under no.59, ‘Ville de Thun, Switzerland’.
1885
Rev. Stopford [Augustus] Brooke, Notes on the Liber Studiorum of J.M.W. Turner, R.A., revised ed., London 1885, pp.[200]–1.
1897
Walter Thornbury, The Life of J.M.W. Turner, R.A. Founded on Letters and Papers Furnished by his Friends and Fellow-Academicians: A New Edition, London 1897, p.584 no.15, as ‘Thun, Switzerland’.
1903
E.T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn eds., Library Edition: The Works of John Ruskin: Volume III: Modern Painters: Volume I, London 1903, p.236.
1904
Ibid., Library Edition: The Works of John Ruskin: Volume XIII: Turner: The Harbours of England; Catalogues and Notes, London 1904, p.632 no.475, as ‘Castle of Thun, Switzerland’.
1906
W[illiam] G[eorge] Rawlinson, Turner’s Liber Studiorum, A Description and a Catalogue. Second Edition, Revised Throughout, London 1906, p.142 under no.59.
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.I, p.322, CXVIII F, as ‘Ville de Thun, Switzerland’.
1921
Untitled typescript list of works relating to 1921 and 1922 Liber Studiorum exhibitions, [circa 1921], Tate exhibition files, Tate Archive TG 92/9/2, p.3.
1924
Alexander J. Finberg, The History of Turner’s Liber Studiorum with a New Catalogue Raisonné, London 1924, reproduced p.[234], p.235 under no.59.
1976
John Russell and Andrew Wilton, Turner in Switzerland, Zurich 1976, p.137 no.52.
1996
Gillian Forrester, Turner’s ‘Drawing Book’: The Liber Studiorum, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1996, pp.15, 24 note 78, p.121 no.59i, reproduced, p.162.
2008
Gillian Forrester, David Hill, Matthew Imms and others, Reisen mit William Turner: J.M.W. Turner: Das Liber Studiorum, exhibition catalogue, Galerie Stihl, Waiblingen 2008, p.156.
Turner’s Liber Studiorum design shows the town of Thun, Switzerland, looking north from the west bank of the Thunersee, closely following a pencil study in the Lake Thun sketchbook (Tate D04705; Turner Bequest LXXVI 48), from his first Continental tour of 1802; in the foreground, the few vertical strokes and single seated figure of the sketch have been developed into a more substantial landing stage, with figures, barrels, and the shallow boats seen in many of Turner’s Swiss drawings. The vertical proportions of the tower of the medieval castle at the centre of the composition have been exaggerated, and Turner has further departed from reality in showing the turrets springing from the upper level of the keep instead of forming rounded corners for its full height. There are other studies of the town from the 1802 visit, showing the proportions of the castle more accurately (Tate D04654; Turner Bequest LXXVI 6).
Ruskin disliked the design, finding it ‘remarkable’ that, to complement the British architectural subjects in the Liber, ‘we have nothing foreign to oppose but three slight, ill considered and unsatisfactory subjects, from Basle, Lauffenbourg, and Thun.’1 A late watercolour of about 1844 shows the town from a similar angle, though with the lake occupying most of the foreground, in dramatically stormy light (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, D NG 866);2 however, the calm, rather prosaic conditions of the Liber version may have been intended as a contrast to another design of around the same date (though published much earlier, in 1808), Lake of Thun, showing a lightning storm (Tate D08119; Turner Bequest CXVI R).
The Liber Studiorum etching and mezzotint engraving, etched by Turner and engraved by Thomas Hodgetts, bears the publication date 1 January 1816 and was issued to subscribers as ‘Ville de Thun; – Switzerland.’ in part 12 (Rawlinson/Finberg nos.57–61;4 see also Tate D08158, D08159, D08161, D08162; Turner Bequest CXVIII D, H, Vaughan Bequest CXVIII E, G). Tate holds impressions of the preliminary outline etching (Tate A01123) and the published engraving (A01124). It is one of eleven published Liber Studiorum subjects in Turner’s ‘Architectural’ category (see also Tate D08110, D08115, D08118, D08126, D08131, D08135, D08142, D08154, D08157; Turner Bequest CXVI I, N, Q, Y, CXVII D, H, O, Z, CXVIII C).
Technical notes:
The sheet is not watermarked, but its batch has been identified as ‘1794 | J Whatman’.1 There is some very faint pencil sketching around the figures, and loosely looping around the treetops on the left. Lights were reserved for the buildings and distant mountains. Washes were followed by brushwork, with wet brushstrokes in the foreground. There is very little scratching-out, but some washing-out. The overall mid-brown colour comprises a burnt sienna pigment.2
Verso:
Blank, save for inscriptions.
Inscribed in pencil ‘F 59’ centre, and ‘D.08160’ bottom left
Stamped in black ‘[crown] | N•G | CXVIII – F’ bottom left
Stamped in black ‘[crown] | N•G | CXVIII – F’ bottom left
Thin tape and the residue of former mounting are evident all round the edges of the sheet.
Matthew Imms
August 2008
How to cite
Matthew Imms, ‘Ville de Thun c.1806–7 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2008, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www