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 > Paris, France, Savoy 2 Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Paris from St-Cloud 1819

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Paris from St-Cloud’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 7 Recto:
Paris from St-Cloud 1819
D14003
Turner Bequest CLXXIII 7
Pencil on white wove paper, 114 x 185 mm
Stamped in black ‘CLXXIII 7’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner made a short expedition to St-Cloud on the south-western outskirts of Paris in order to see its royal château situated on the heights above the western bank of the River Seine. The grounds of the palace offered panoramic views of the distant city to the north-east and Turner used this opportunity to make a sweeping topographical sketch encompassing the full breadth of the capital.1 The composition continues on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 6 verso (D14001) but visible along the horizon on this side are, from left to right: the two towers of Nôtre Dame; the steeple of Saint-Germain-des-Prés; the dome of the Panthéon; and the dome of Les Invalides. The river curves around to the right, whilst in the foreground the artist hasincluded the figure of a woman, also gazing across at the view.
For further sketches of St-Cloud see folios 6 and 12 (D14001 and D14011).

Nicola Moorby
February 2013

1
See Warrell 1999, p.18.

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Paris from St-Cloud 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, August 2013, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-paris-from-st-cloud-r1142862, accessed 19 April 2024.