Joseph Mallord William Turner

A View down a Mountainous Valley

c.1837–40

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Medium: Chalk, gouache and watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 138 × 190 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D20232
Turner Bequest CCXX Y

Display caption

Turner's travels during the 1830s often took him across France, Germany and Switzerland. This scene has not yet been identified or related to a specific tour.

Many of Turner's private sketches of
this period are characterised by vibrant, almost lurid colours. Here he juxtaposes
a range of acidic yellow-greens with the shocking brilliance of the pink peak on the right. The potency of the colours provides an idea of the strident quality
of some of Turner's later work. This helps us understand why his contemporaries found such pictures so bold and alarming.

Gallery label, September 2002

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