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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Landscape between Ghent and Bruges 1824

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 161 Verso:
?Landscape between Ghent and Bruges 1824
D19867
Turner Bequest CCXVI 156 a
Pencil on white wove paper, 78 x 118 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘[?Red]’ centre; ‘[?Dewy B....ghm]’ bottom centre to right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Dashed off in a matter of moments, this slight sketch shows a road lined with tall and slender trees with flat rural plains around. Though the landscape has no distinct features, the artist may be depicting the Flemish countryside. Turner’s inscriptions are rather difficult to read, however the word ‘Dewy’ appears to be decipherable, perhaps indicating that the sketch was taken on a fresh morning when the atmosphere was moist with dew. The sun, suggested with a small circle, is annotated as ‘Red’. The third inscription reading ‘B[...]ghm’ could represent ‘Berghem’, the alternative spelling of the surname of the Dutch Golden Age landscape painter Nicolaes Berchem (1620–1683). If this is correct, it may be that Turner was reminded of Berchem’s landscapes at the time of sketching this view, as he had been reminded of Augustus Wall Callcott’s paintings earlier on in the tour whilst sketching in northern France (Tate D19588; Turner Bequest CCXVI 19).

Alice Rylance-Watson
June 2014

How to cite

Alice Rylance-Watson, ‘?Landscape between Ghent and Bruges 1824 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, June 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-landscape-between-ghent-and-bruges-r1174660, accessed 19 September 2024.