Joseph Mallord William Turner

This sheet is one of a series of sketches associated with a tour of the Seine with a proposed dating of 1827–9. The studies are characterised by the use of pen and ink on blue paper; for more information see the Introduction to this section. This pen and ink study is one of those covering the few kilometres between St-Germain and Bougival in what Ian Warrell has termed: ‘tremendous detail, making use of viewpoints that either overlap or offer opposite perspectives of the same scene’.1

This sheet shows a similar view to another sketch on blue paper catalogued within this section, Tate D24887 (Turner Bequest CCLX 51); the other sketch shows a bigger group of figures and is worked up to a greater degree of finish.

Verso:

The sheet has been laid down on heavy paper and the verso could not be examined at the time of cataloguing.