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, with Buildings, a Steamboat and a Figure 1828

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Views of the Rhône Valley, with Buildings, a Steamboat and a Figure’ 1828
Folio 9 Recto:
Views of the Rhône Valley, with Buildings, a Steamboat and a Figure 1828
D21006
Turner Bequest CCXXX 9
Pencil on cream lined wove paper, 145 x 111 mm
Inscribed in blue ink by John Ruskin ‘4’ towards bottom left, upside down, and ‘4’ top left, upside down
Stamped in black ‘CCXXX 9’ towards bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The upper section of the page depicts a figure standing on a steamboat, a scene from Turner’s two-day boat journey along the Rhône valley from Lyon to Avignon. As the geographer and Turner researcher Roland Courtot has observed, figures seldom appear in this sketchbook, as the artist tended to favour long-range studies of the natural topography and approaching architectural landmarks.1 However, he occasionally took advantage of the landing points along the river to portray the people he encountered en route, typically boatmen, ferry drivers, fishermen and fellow travellers. The larger sketch beneath depicts an unidentified town or village. Both studies are inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation.
With the sketchbook held upright, Turner produced a quick topographical profile in the lower section of the page. The location for these studies remains to be identified, although they possibly relate to the stretch of river between Vienne and Andance, given their position in the sketchbook’s itinerary.
1
Roland Courtot, ‘Turner et le Rhône, des carnets “géographiques”’, accessed 29 January 2024, https://amu.hal.science/hal-02875532.
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). The bottom-left corner was completely torn off and has been repaired.

Hannah Kaspar
March 2024

How to cite

Hannah Kaspar, ‘Views of the Rhône Valley, with Buildings, a Steamboat and a Figure 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-with-buildings-a-steamboat-and-a-figure-r1209667, accessed 15 April 2025.