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 The Rhône Valley, with a Town and Tower 1828

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Rhône Valley, with a Town and Tower’ 1828
Folio 16 Recto:
The Rhône Valley, with a Town and Tower 1828
D21020
Turner Bequest CCXXX 16
Pencil on cream lined wove paper, 111 x 145 mm
Inscribed in blue ink by John Ruskin ‘16’, to the right, descending vertically, and ‘4’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCXXX 16’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Continuing his two-day boat journey from Lyon to Avignon, Turner rotated the sketchbook horizontally to produce this rapid profile of a town or village on the banks of the Rhône. A prominent tower lies to the right, and the slopes of the valley appear in the background. While the location remains to be identified, it is possibly near Valence, given the position of this work in the sketchbook’s chronology.

Hannah Kaspar
March 2024

How to cite

Hannah Kaspar, ‘The Rhône Valley, with a Town and Tower 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/the-rhone-valley-with-a-town-and-tower-r1209679, accessed 15 April 2025.