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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1836-47 Modern painter > Autumn Tour of Northern France 1845 > Eu and Treport Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Wooded Bank ?in Upper Normandy 1845

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Wooded Bank ?in Upper Normandy’ 1845
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
A Wooded Bank ?in Upper Normandy 1845
D35453
Turner Bequest CCCLIX 18
Pencil and watercolour on white wove paper, 231 x 330 mm
Inscribed in pen and blue ink ‘1483’ bottom right
Stamped in black ink ‘CCCLIX – 18’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Like D35444 and D35446 (Turner Bequest CCCLIX 9, 11) this elaborate watercolour sketch depicts the wooded bank of a river or lake, perhaps in the Bresle valley. Multiple techniques have been used to create nocturnal or crepuscular effects: strong tonal contrasts are formed towards the left of the sheet between opaque, indigo washes and areas of ‘reserved’ paper; in the lower register meanwhile, the impression of shimmering reflection has been created with the ‘lifting off’ of glazes and perhaps with wax resistance.
Verso:
Blank; except for patches of watercolour.

John Chu
February 2014

How to cite

John Chu, ‘A Wooded Bank ?in Upper Normandy 1845 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-wooded-bank-in-upper-normandy-r1173549, accessed 26 April 2024.