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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Second Italian Tour 1828-9 > Lyons to Marseilles Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Views of the Rhône Valley near Vienne, with a Steamboat 1828

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Views of the Rhône Valley near Vienne, with a Steamboat’ 1828
Folio 7 Verso:
Views of the Rhône Valley near Vienne, with a Steamboat 1828
D21003
Turner Bequest CCXXX 7a
Pencil on cream lined wove paper, 145 x 111 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘Vinne’, below centre
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
South of Lyon is the riverside town of Vienne, which Turner encountered during an early phase of his two-day boat journey to Avignon. Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, the three studies on this page document his departure from the town as he continued his route south. The location is confirmed by the artist’s central inscription ‘Vinne’.
At the top of the page is a view of the Rhône valley with a steamboat in the foreground, its paddle wheel denoted by the crossed circle. The middle sketch records the view from downstream, with Vienne receding into the distance. The bottom profile is likely a stretch of the valley further south. Further studies of Vienne appear on folios 5 verso–7 recto (D20999–D21002).
Technical notes:
The brown stain towards on the edge of the page is from the glue used to repair a tear on folio 8 (D21004–D21005).

Hannah Kaspar
March 2024

How to cite

Hannah Kaspar, ‘Views of the Rhône Valley near Vienne, with a Steamboat 1828’, catalogue entry, March 2024, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2025, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/views-of-the-rhone-valley-near-vienne-with-a-steamboat-r1209664, accessed 15 April 2025.