Joseph Mallord William Turner

Place de l’Étape, Orléans

c.1826–8

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Loose Studies of Northern France
Medium: Watercolour, gouache and pen and watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 143 × 194 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D24764
Turner Bequest CCLIX 199

Display caption

Turner visited Orleans in 1826 and 1828 and made sketches which served as the basis for the view of the cathedral engraved in his 'Annual Tour - the Loire' in 1833. The view of the twin towers of the cathedral soaring above the Place de l'Etape is a variant of the published design. Turner also prepared, but did not use, a view of the town from the river.

Gallery label, August 2004

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Catalogue entry

Turner worked up this colour study of the Place de l'Étape in Orléans looking toward the theatre, the Hôtel Dieu and the cathedral from material gathered on his 1826 tour of Northern France. It is based on a pencil study in the Loire, Tours, Orleans and Paris sketchbook; see entry for Tate D23312 (Turner Bequest CCXLIX 34). See the Introduction to this section for a list of comparable studies of the city.

Technical Notes:

The sheet belongs to a batch of dense blue paper with dark fibres used by Turner made by George Steart of Bally, Ellen and Steart at De Montault Mill, Coombe Down, Bath. 1

Ian Warrell, Turner on the Loire, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1997, p.238.

Verso:

Inscribed in pencil with the note ‘7’ in the top left-hand corner of the sheet. Stamped in black with the Turner Bequest monogram and ‘CCLIX – 190’ towards the bottom right-hand corner of the sheet. There is also a red ink note in the bottom left-hand corner of the sheet that has been obscured by the mount.

John Chu
March 2016

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