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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > First Italian Tour 1819-20 > Passage of the Simplon Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Mountains, near the Simplon Pass 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Mountains, near the Simplon Pass’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 6 Recto:
?Mountains, near the Simplon Pass 1819
D16900
Turner Bequest CXCIV 6
Pencil and grey watercolour wash on white wove paper, 121 x 195 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘6’, bottom left, descending left-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CXCIV 6’ bottom left, descending left-hand edge
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The sketch on this page is virtually impossible to decipher, although it is likely to depict a view of mountains near the Simplon Pass. The surface has been prepared with a grey watercolour wash, and uneven patches in the corner indicate where the sheet was held during the painting process. There is evidence of a small amount of scratching-out by the artist to provide some tonal contrast.
For a general discussion of Turner’s expedition to the Simplon Pass see the introduction to the sketchbook.

Nicola Moorby
April 2011

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘?Mountains, near the Simplon Pass 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2011, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-mountains-near-the-simplon-pass-r1132775, accessed 23 April 2024.