Joseph Mallord William Turner

Coastal Terrain and Buildings, ?South of France or Italy

c.1834

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Medium: Gouache and watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 144 × 188 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D28965
Turner Bequest CCXCII 18

Technique and condition

This work by Turner is a gouache and watercolour painting on a medium weight grey wove paper. Titled Building above a Harbour this work appears to be a quick, impression that is made up more of shapes than details. The brush strokes seem quite hurried and loose, giving a very sketchy feel to this work. Turner has also worked into the work manually as evident by the fingerprints in the thicker gouache areas. Evident from the water staining on the verso, this work was caught in the 1928 Tate floods. Though some of these stains have migrated through to the recto of the support they are not particularly disfiguring.

Previous attempts to conserve this work are also evident by the partial removal the paper and adhesive from the edges of the verso of the support. Otherwise this work is in quite good condition with the pigments retaining a good deal of their vibrancy.

Jo Gracey
April 2001

Catalogue entry

This is one of a large number of sketches on loose sheets of paper depicting hill towns, wooded scenery and rocky coastal terrain, here identified with Turner’s various tours of South of France and Italy. For the grouping and dating of these works, see the section introduction.

Verso:

Pencil note reading ‘100a’ centre. Stamped in black in with the Turner Bequest monogram and ‘CCXCII 18’. Light brown staining across page.

John Chu
June 2015

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