Joseph Mallord William Turner

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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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