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

D20287, D20352, D20426, D20427, D20527, D20528, D20535, D20536, D20550, D20555, D24615, D24665, D24666, D24713, D24754, D24772, D24779, D24785, D24791, D24817, D24821, D24854, D24901, D24916, D24921, D24923, D24925, D24927, D24952, D24953, D24957, D24960, D40087, D40088, D40092, D40109, D40310, D40415

Turner Bequest CCXXIII B, CCXXIV 57, 127, 128, 214, 215, 222, 223, 234, 238, CCLIX 50, 100, 101, 148, 189, 207, 214, 220, 226, 252, 256, CCLX 18, 65, 80, 85, 87, 89, 91, 116, 117, 121, 124

The works in this section are drawn from four distinct sequences from A.J. Finberg’s 1909 Inventory of the Turner Bequest: CCXXIII (‘Watercolours connected with the Meuse-Moselle tour, c.1826’), CCXXIV (‘Black and white sketches on blue connected with the Meuse-Moselle tour’, c.1826) , CCLIX (‘Watercolours on blue paper: mostly connected with the “French Rivers” series’, c.1830) and CCLX (‘Pencil and ink on blue paper: mostly connected with “French Rivers” series’, c.1830’).1 Each of these groupings is introduced by Finberg with similarly tentative remarks as to their subjects and dating; with regard to the Meuse-Moselle sequence, the disclaimer that ‘the identification of almost all these drawings is doubtful. Some of them may belong to the “Rivers of France” series, or even to the Italian tour of 1828’ is included, for example.2

Over the course of the present cataloguing project, many of the individual sheets within these sections have been appropriately designated to a specific tour or theme, and thus compiled and contextualised accordingly. For example, a number of the ‘Watercolours on blue paper’ (CCLX) have been assigned to John Chu’s ‘Tour of Northern France 1826’ section. The present grouping broadly comprises designs whereby precise identifications have historically not been possible, and which have therefore not been included in the tours and specific thematic sections compiled within this catalogue, nor incorporated into published scholarly surveys.

All of the drawings in this grouping are on separate tinted sheets of paper. As has been outlined elsewhere in this catalogue (see, for example, Ben Pollitt’s discussion of Turner’s use of blue paper in the introduction to his ‘European River and Lowland Scenes c.1824–39’ section), Turner began to use small, neatly torn sheets of coloured paper in the mid-1820s, a practice that continued until the Continental tours of 1839 and 1840 and resulted in a ‘sea of blue and grey papers, all the same size, with no dates’.3 One celebrated aspect of Turner’s work as a watercolourist is his unconventional use of blue paper, which provided an excellent background for the application of gouache.4 The effects are evidenced in a number of the colour studies within this section: see Tate D24665, D24666 and D24713 (Turner Bequest CCLIX 100, 101, 148), for example.

Some of Finberg’s general observations relating to the works have been adopted here – namely, it is assumed that most are connected to the Rivers of France series and were therefore executed during Turner’s tours through France in the late 1820s and early 1830s; in the case of the drawings from the Meuse-Moselle sequences, Finberg’s advisory note that ‘some of them may belong’ to the French series has been accepted. That said, none of the drawings included here correspond directly to the published views (see Caroline South’s ‘“Wanderings by the Seine” Watercolours, for the “Turner’s Annual Tours” Series (“The Rivers of France”) c.1832–3’, in the present catalogue) and may be more accurately described as being connected to the artist’s travels through France at this time, rather than to the Rivers project specifically.

Indeed, as well as one or two examples which may represent alternative or abandoned variations on the engraved views, the range of material gathered here also includes several sketches of local people and everyday life, which seem to represent spontaneous, visual souvenirs of Turner’s foreign travels: see, for example, D24791 and D24817 (CCLIX 226, 252). Similarly, many of the sheets contain only vague, roughly drawn, landscape views, made up of faint and minimal pencil lines: see D20527 and D24925 (CCXXIV 214, CCLX 89). In contrast, also included here are a number of detailed and worked-up colour studies, some showing conventional topographical landscape views (D24772; CCLIX 207) and others seemingly executed in an effort to record a sense of atmosphere (D24754; CCLIX 189), or light and its effects (D24666; CCLIX 101).

Proposed identifications have been investigated and, in some instances, confirmed or expanded upon. Similarly, connections between existing catalogue entries have been highlighted. Alternative subjects have been researched, explored and proposed, although in many cases, as outlined above, the elusive nature of the design is such that the identification of a specific view or subject is still not possible. It is hoped that the publication of this research will lead to further revelations and insights.