Joseph Mallord William Turner Paris: The Marché aux Fleurs and the Pont au Change c.1833
Joseph Mallord William Turner,
Paris: The Marché aux Fleurs and the Pont au Change
c.1833
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Paris: The Marché aux Fleurs and the Pont au Change c.1833
D24685
Turner Bequest CCLIX 120
Turner Bequest CCLIX 120
Gouache and watercolour on blue paper, 140 x 192 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX – 120’ bottom right
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX – 120’ 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 (144, as ‘Paris: The Flower Market and the Pont au Change’).
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 (96b).
1947
Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling in het Stedelijk Museum te Amsterdam georganiseerd door de Tate Gallery voor de British Council, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 1947 (53b).
1947
William Turner 1775–1851: Die Ausstellung wurde von der Tate Gallery für den British Council organisiert, Berner Kunstmuseum, Bern, December 1947–February 1948 (53b).
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 (53b).
1948
Turner 1775–1851: Exposition de peintures organisée par la Tate Gallery pour le British Council, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, ?March 1948 (53b).
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 (12b).
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 (17b).
1970
Turner: Watercolours Lent by the British Museum, Musée Provisoire d’Art Moderne, Brussels, November 1970–January 1971 (58).
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 (144).
1983
Turner and the Human Figure: Watercolours from the Turner Bequest, Loaned by the British Museum, Tate Gallery, London, December 1983–July 1984 (no catalogue).
1992
Turner: The Fifth Decade: Watercolours 1830–1840, Tate Gallery, London, February–May 1992 (35).
1993
J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Impressions de Gran Bretanya i el Continent Europeu / Impresiones de Gran Bretaña y el Continente Europeo, Centre Cultural de la Fundació ”la Caixa”, Barcelona, September–November 1993, Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundación ”la Caixa”, Madrid, November 1993–January 1994 (57).
1994
J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Aquarelles et Dessins du Legs Turner: Collection de la Tate Gallery, Londres / Watercolours and Drawings from the Turner Bequest: Collection from the Tate Gallery, London, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi, September–December 1994 (57).
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 (147).
2016
Turner’s Urban Landscapes, Tate Britain, London, July 2016–May 2018 (no catalogue).
References
1834
Spectator, 6 December 1834, p.1167.
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.144, as ‘Paris: The Flower Market and Pont au Change’.
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.94 (W34).
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.II, p.795, CCLIX 120, as ‘Paris: The Flower Market and Pont au Change.’.
1913
W[illiam] G[eorge] Rawlinson, The Engraved Work of J.M.W. Turner, R.A., vol.II, London 1913, p.274 under no.487.
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.96b.
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.[43] no.53b, reproduced.
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.[47] no.53b, reproduced.
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.[37] no.53b, reproduced.
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.53, reproduced.
1950
J. Isaacs, Aquarelle aus dem Turner-Nachlass im Britischen Museum veranstaltet vom British Council, exhibition British Council German tour, 1950, p.12 no.12b, reproduced.
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.17b, reproduced.
1970
Luke Herrmann, Turner: Watercolours Lent by the British Museum, exhibition catalogue, Musée Provisoire d’Art Moderne, Brussels 1970, p.9 no.58.
1832
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.416 no.985, reproduced, as ‘Paris: Marché aux Fleurs and Pont-au-Change 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.144, p.456, fig.919.
1982
Andrew Wilton, Turner Abroad: France; Italy; Germany; Switzerland, London 1982, p.50 no.55, pl.55 (colour).
1992
Anne Lyles, Turner: The Fifth Decade: Watercolours 1830–1840, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1992, pp.18, 63 no.35 reproduced, 63 under no.34, 64 under no.36.
1992
Turner Society News, no.60, March 1992, p.1, reproduced.
1993
Ian Warrell, J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Impressions de Gran Bretanya I el Continent Europeu / Impresiones de Gran Bretaña y el Continente Europeo, exhibition catalogue, Centre Cultural de la Fundació ”la Caixa”, Barcelona 1993, pp.278, 279 no.57, reproduced (colour).
1994
Ian Warrell, J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Aquarelles et Dessins du Legs Turner: Collection de la Tate Gallery, Londres / Watercolours and Drawings from the Turner Bequest: Collection from the Tate Gallery, London, exhibition catalogue, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi 1994, pp.32, 34 no.57, reproduced (colour).
1990
Luke Herrmann, Turner Prints: The Engraved Work of J.M.W. Turner, Oxford 1990, pp.178–9.
1999
Ian Warrell, Turner on the Seine, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1999, pp.69, 230, 235, 236, 257 note 28, 277 no.147, fig.237 (colour).
Engraved:
By William Radclyffe in 1834, published in 1835.
By William Radclyffe in 1834, published in 1835.
In this watercolour, Turner depicts the flower market, the Marché aux Fleurs, on the banks of the river Seine, in Paris, France. The Pont au Change bridge spans the mid-ground. Turner places the viewer in the heart of Parisian activity. The foreground is filled with figures engaged in the market. The buildings of Paris, including the Louvre and Tuileries palaces, stretch off into the background as far as the eye can see. Turner conveys the scene in lilac-grey shadows and sparkling highlights. The Conciergerie building on the left is almost in silhouette whereas light falls over the bustling figures in the foreground and illuminates the buildings in the right background. Contrasting lilac and auburn tones shape the arches of the Pont au Change bridge and the Pont Neuf bridge behind. These colours and light suggest evening beginning to fall over the city.
Verso:
Previous records note inscriptions in gouache ‘14 | Paris’ and in pencil ‘15’; however, at 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 Marché aux Fleurs and the Pont au Change 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