J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

This sheet is one of a series of sketches associated with a tour of the Seine with a proposed dating of 1827–9. The studies are characterised by the use of pen and ink on blue paper; for more information see the Introduction to this section.

The subject of this study is Marly on the Seine, a location depicted in various other studies catalogued in this section. For further information and a list of other studies see the entry for D24837 (Turner Bequest CCLX 1).The sense of daily life on the river, presented by the boats in the right foreground and the figure approaching a horse and cart on the left, is common to many of the drawings associated with this tour.

This is one of a small group catalogued within this section to have been made in a panoramic format, with each sheet measuring around 9.5 by 28 cm. For other studies in this format see Tate D24893–D2896, D24900, D24904–D24905 (Turner Bequest CCLX 57–60, 64, 68–69). As Warrell has noted, while the popularity of the panoramic format during Turner’s day may at first glance make this appear unsurprising, it was format Turner rarely used; other exceptions include some of Turner’s depictions of Petworth.1 Turner possessed a copy of Thomas Girtin’s Twenty Views of Paris, and it seems very possible that the panoramic format Seine studies took some heed of them.2 For further information about this, see the Introduction to this section.

Technical notes:

This study was exhibited within early displays of the Turner Bequest (see exhibition history) and the resulting overexposure to light has caused the paper to discolour. Possible water damage in the lower left may be a legacy of the Tate Gallery flood of 1928.

Verso:

The sheet has been laid down on heavy paper and the verso could not be inspected at the time of cataloguing.