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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Switzerland 1802 > France, Savoy, Piedmont Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Avallon from the Auxerre Road 1802

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Avallon from the Auxerre Road’ 1802
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 10 Recto:
Avallon from the Auxerre Road 1802
D04402
Turner Bequest LXXIII 10
Pencil, heightened with white chalk on light grey-buff laid paper, 138 x 215 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Avallon’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘LXXIII 10’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner approached Avallon, built on a spur of rock high above the Cousin valley, from Auxerre. The distance was some thirty-two miles and Hill speculates that it was his first stop on his second day of travelling.1 This sketch preserves his first view of the town from the Auxerre road, with the Hôtel de Condé and spired Porte d’Horloge near the centre. He also made two further sketches in this sketchbook, looking back towards the town as he continued on his way to Saulieu (folios 11, 12, D04403, D04404).
1
Hill 1992, p.26.
Verso:
Blank

David Blayney Brown
June 2004

How to cite

David Blayney Brown, ‘Avallon from the Auxerre Road 1802 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, June 2004, 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-avallon-from-the-auxerre-road-r1133028, accessed 12 May 2024.