Joseph Mallord William Turner

Geneva from the Quai du Mont Blanc

1802

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
France, Savoy, Piedmont Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite and watercolour on paper
Dimensions
Support: 138 x 215 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D04427
Turner Bequest LXXIII 35

Catalogue entry

For Geneva see especially folio 5 of this sketchbook (D04397), and also folios 39–42 (D04433–D04438). Here, the city with the cathedral of St Pierre is seen at right and Mont Salève in the distance, from a position looking south from the Quai du Mont Blanc. This view of Geneva and the lakeside activity suggested the foreground of the finished watercolour Turner made for Walter Fawkes (Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut).1 The trials of blue, yellow and pink watercolour at lower left must have been made as he worked on it with the sketchbook alongside. The sketch on folio 5 was used for the background of the Fawkes watercolour and also has colour trials. This combination of his on-the-spot sketches enabled Turner to develop a composition that set the city beside a larger expanse of water than could really be seen from the Quai. Another version of the finished subject is in the Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad.2

David Blayney Brown
June 2004

1
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.342 no.370 reproduced.
2
Ibid., p.343 no.382.

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Geneva and Lac Leman’ 1802

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study for ‘Lake of Geneva, with Mont Blanc from the Lake’’ c.1802–5

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study for ‘Lake of Geneva, with Mont Blanc from the Lake’’ c.1802–5

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Two Composition Studies for ‘Lake of Geneva with Mont Blanc from the Lake’’ c.1802–5

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study for ‘Lake of Geneva, with Mont Blanc from the Lake’’ c.1802–5

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Composition Study for ‘Lake of Geneva with Mont Blanc’; Study of a Boat’ c.1799–1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner Composition Study for ‘Lake of Geneva with Mont Blanc’; Study of a Boat

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Mont Blanc, from Sallanches’ 1802

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Group of Figures; Composition Study for ‘Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc’’ c.1799–1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Group of Figures; Composition Study for ‘Lake Geneva and Mont Blanc’

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Composition Study for ‘Lake of Geneva with Mont Blanc’’ c.1799–1805

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Mont Blanc from the Arve Valley’ 1802

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Composition study for ‘Lake of Geneva with Mont Blanc from the Lake’; a Group of Figures’ c.1799–1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner Composition study for ‘Lake of Geneva with Mont Blanc from the Lake’; a Group of Figures

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Lake of Geneva and the Château de Tour-de-Peilz from Vevey’ 1802

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Lake of Geneva and the Château de Tour-de-Peilz from Vevey

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study for ‘Lake of Geneva, with Mont Blanc from the Lake’’ c.1802–5

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study for ‘Lake of Geneva, with Mont Blanc from the Lake’

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Chamonix and Mont Blanc, from the Slopes of the Montenvers’ 1802

Joseph Mallord William Turner Chamonix and Mont Blanc, from the Slopes of the Montenvers

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Near Bonneville, Looking towards Mont Blanc’ 1802

Joseph Mallord William Turner Near Bonneville, Looking towards Mont Blanc

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