A Coastal Headland; a Plan of Boulogne Harbour

1845

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Boulogne Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite and watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 230 x 328 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D35402
Turner Bequest CCCLVIII 1

Catalogue entry

On one of the inside covers of the sketchbook, Turner has here described a vista of sea, sky and land in pale watercolour. Finberg described the view as a harbour seen from a high vantage, presumably finding a headland in the broad lilac brush-strokes on the right.1 An equally faint area of bluish-green describes the sea while a central belt of reserved paper and dragged strokes of darker blue give the impression of clear sky breaking through dense cloud cover. The composition is inverted in relation to the sketchbook’s foliation.

Unrelated to the watercolour sketch is a rough pencil plan of Boulogne’s port area towards the bottom left of the page. The prominent semi-circular feature delineates the bassin à flot excavated to harbour the Napoleonic fleet prior to its failed 1805 attempt on England.2 The dock’s north-western inlet is oriented towards the right. See also the harbour plan on folio 2 verso (D35405; Turner Bequest CCCLVIII 3v).

Finberg 1909, vol.II, p.1168.

Jean-Denis G.G. Lepage, French Fortifications, 1715–1815: An Illustrated History, Jefferson NC 2010, p.188.

Technical notes:

Transference from folio 1 recto opposite (D35403; Turner Bequest CCCLVIII 2) has created light patches of ochre in the top left quadrant.

John Chu
November 2013

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