Joseph Mallord William Turner Honfleur c.1832
Joseph Mallord William Turner,
Honfleur
c.1832
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Honfleur c.1832
D24700
Turner Bequest CCLIX 135
Turner Bequest CCLIX 135
Gouache and watercolour on blue paper, 140 x 191 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom left
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX – 135’ bottom right
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom left
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX – 135’ 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 (159, as ‘Honfleur’).
1959
The Romantic Movement: Fifth Exhibition to Celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the Council of Europe, Tate Gallery and Arts Council Gallery, London, July–September 1959 (447).
1970
Turner: Watercolours Lent by the British Museum, Musée Provisoire d’Art Moderne, Brussels, November 1970–January 1971 (61).
1974
Impressionism: Its Masters, its Precursors and its Influence in Britain, Diploma Galleries, Royal Academy, London, February–April 1974 (20).
1975
Turner in the British Museum: Drawings and Watercolours, Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum, London, May 1975–February 1976 (193).
1976
J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Akvareller og Tegninger fra British Museum, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, February–May 1976 (62).
1976
William Turner und die Landschaft seiner Zeit, Hamburger Kunsthalle, May–July 1976 (62).
1978
Watercolours from the Turner Bequest, Lent by the British Museum, Tate Gallery, London, January–June 1978.
1978
Turner 1775–1851, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, December 1978–February 1979 (41).
1979
Oleos y acuarelas de Joseph Mallord William Turner, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela, October[–?November] 1979 (BM 39).
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 39).
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 (119).
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 (118).
References
1833
Atlas, 8 December 1833, p.804.
1834
Arnold’s Magazine of the Fine Arts, February 1834, p.393.
1903
E.T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn (eds.), Library Edition: The Works of John Ruskin: Volume III: Modern Painters: Volume I: Containing Parts I and II: Of General Principles; and Of Truth, London 1903, p.466.
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, 615 no.159, as ‘Honfleur’.
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.II, p.796, CCLIX 135, as ‘Honfleur’.
1913
W[illiam] G[eorge] Rawlinson, The Engraved Work of J.M.W. Turner, R.A., vol.II, London 1913, p.270 under no.472.
1959
Kenneth Clark, Michel Florisoone, Geoffrey Grigson and others, The Romantic Movement: Fifth Exhibition to Celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the Council of Europe, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery and Arts Council Gallery, London 1959, no.447.
1970
Luke Herrmann, Turner: Watercolours Lent by the British Museum, exhibition catalogue, Musée Provisoire d’Art Moderne, Brussels 1970, p.[54] no.61.
1972
Kenneth Clark, Michael Kitson, John Gage and others, La Peinture romantique anglaise et les Préraphaélites, exhibition catalogue, Petit Palais, Paris 1972, p.[186] no.298.
1974
John House, Impressionism: Its Masters, its Precursors and its Influence in Britain, exhibition catalogue, Diploma Galleries, Royal Academy, London 1974, p.26 no.20.
1975
Andrew Wilton, Turner in the British Museum: Drawings and Watercolours, exhibition catalogue, Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum, London 1975, p.20 no.193.
1976
David Loshak and Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Akvareller og Tegninger fra British Museum, exhibition catalogue, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen 1976, p.60 no.62.
1976
Werner Hofmann, Andrew Wilton, Siegmar Hosten and others, William Turner und die Landschaft seiner Zeit, exhibition catalogue, Hamburger Kunsthalle 1976, pp.18, [77] reproduced, as Farbtafel XIII no.84.
1977
Nicholas J. Alfrey, ‘Turner and the French Rivers’, unpublished MA Report, Courtauld Institute, University of London 1977, pp.58, 66.
1978
John Sillevis, Nini Jonker and Hripsimé Visser, Turner 1775–1851, exhibition catalogue, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague 1978, p.71 no.41.
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.60 no.BM 39.
1979
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.414 no.970, reproduced.
1979
John Gage and Ana T. de Gradowska, Oleos y acuarelas de Joseph Mallord William Turner, exhibition catalogue, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela 1979, no.BM 39.
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.119, p.426, fig.888.
1990
Luke Herrmann, Turner Prints: The Engraved Work of J.M.W. Turner, Oxford 1990, p.175.
1998
James Hamilton, Turner and the Scientists, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1998, pp.36, 130 note 39.
1999
Ian Warrell, Turner on the Seine, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1999, pp.69, 110, 113, 257 note 27, 273 no.118, fig.85 (colour).
Engraved:
By John Cousen in 1833, published in 1834.
By John Cousen in 1833, published in 1834.
In this watercolour, Turner presents an intricate view over the town of Honfleur in northern France. The town is laid out with evocative clarity, under a dramatic sky. The distinctive Lieutenancy building with its towered gateway is depicted just left of centre, with the two-towered Church of Saint-Catherine behind. Turner includes a lighthouse on the quay in the right foreground and another lighthouse in the mid-ground. A group of sailboats nestles in the right corner on the calm waters.
An engraving was made from the watercolour by John Cousen in 1833, as Honfleur (Turner impression T04707, T05611 T06243 and T06244) for the volume Wanderings by the Seine of 1834.2 The dark tones of the church and of the trees at lower left appear more prominent in the engraving. The buildings of the town, in particular the row of buildings stretching from centre left towards the centre of the sheet, are conveyed in lesser detail in the engraving than in the watercolour. A small boat has also been added into the scene at lower right, just under the lighthouse.
Verso:
Blank, except for an inscription ‘6’ in dark pencil or grey gouache in the upper left corner of the sheet, probably made by Turner. Above this, at the top right corner ‘Honfleur No 2’ has been written in pencil, possibly also by Turner. There appear to be some faint illegible inscriptions in right of centre of the sheet. The lower centre of the sheet is stamped with the Turner Bequest monogram above the number ‘CCLIX – 135’, which is also written in pencil above the stamp.
Caroline South
November 2017
How to cite
Caroline South, ‘Honfleur c.1832 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