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

Inverted in relation to the sketchbook at foliated, the two drawings worked onto the top half of this page depict distant coastal or riverside scenery. Such cliffs abound on the Channel Island and Normandy coasts, as well as on the banks of the Seine’s wide embouchure, each of which are the subject of extensive study in this sketchbook. Turner’s note reading ‘Hermitage’ just below the lower of these two sketches may indicate the presence of some small, isolated structure in the landscape.