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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Northern France 1832 > Guernsey Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Sea Defences, English Channel ?1832

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Sea Defences, English Channel’ ?1832
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 20 Verso:
?Sea Defences, English Channel ?1832
D23557
Turner Bequest CCLII 20a
Pencil on white wove paper, 114 x 187 mm
Partial watermark ‘J.JELL |’
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted in relation to the sketchbook as foliated, the subject of the sketches on the top half of this page is too indistinct to permit certain identification. However, the sharp angles, straight parallel lines, and blocky forms featured throughout are certainly indicative of man-made structures and possibly sea defences. Art historian Ian Warrell has identified the sketches on folio 21 recto opposite (D23558; Turner Bequest CCLII 21) as depictions of the harbour infrastructure at Le Havre, Normandy, so these sketches may record structures in the same area.1

John Chu
April 2014

1
Ian Warrell, Turner on the Seine, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1999, pp.96, 97.

How to cite

John Chu, ‘?Sea Defences, English Channel ?1832 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 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-sea-defences-english-channel-r1175049, accessed 25 April 2024.