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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > European River and Lowland Scenes > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Mountains beside a River c.1830

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Mountains beside a River’ c.1830
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Mountains beside a River c.1830
D24618
Turner Bequest CCLIX 53
Gouache and watercolour on blue wove paper, 142 x 189 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX 53’ bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘53’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
In the foreground the winding course of a river is suggested, its surface animated with flecks of white. Beyond the river a hill rises to the right, behind which is another rocky peak that appears yellow in the sunlight. Still further off, a snow-capped mountain ascends in the distance.
Finberg’s 1909 Inventory included this in a group of sketches ‘mostly connected with the “French Rivers” series’, although ‘some Belgian subjects have also been included, and there may possibly be some Rhine and even English subjects among them’;1 in the absence of later suggestions, the date used is derived from Finberg.
For the grouping and general dating of these works, see the section Introduction.
1
Finberg 1909, II, p.789.
Verso:
Blank except for inscriptions. Traces of white strips of paper along the edges of the sheet indicate an earlier mount. Inscribed in pencil ‘53 or 54’ top right of centre. Inscribed in pencil ‘D24818’ bottom left of centre.

Ben Pollitt
August 2019

How to cite

Ben Pollitt, ‘Mountains beside a River c.1830 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2019, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2023, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-mountains-beside-a-river-r1202163, accessed 21 November 2024.