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 > Paris and Environs Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Gothic Church, Northern France 1832

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Gothic Church, Northern France’ 1832
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 112 Recto:
A Gothic Church, Northern France 1832
D24387
Turner Bequest CCLVII 112
Pencil on white laid paper, 175 x 127 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘M[...] G[....]’ top right, ‘P[...]y’ bottom right
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘112’ top left and ‘2’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLVII 12’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the sketchbook turned horizontally, Turner filled this page with a view of a small but highly ornamented Gothic chapel seen from a turn in a road. Illegible notes in the top and bottom right-hand corners presumably record the name of the place depicted, identifying its precise location for the artist. Turner travelled extensively around the satellite settlements of Paris with this sketchbook and also up the River Marne to the east of the city, so this scene was probably captured in one of the towns in those regions. The church appears again on folio 113 recto (D24389; Turner Bequest CCLVII 113).

John Chu
January 2015

How to cite

John Chu, ‘A Gothic Church, Northern France 1832 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2015, 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-gothic-church-northern-france-r1175415, accessed 24 April 2024.