Joseph Mallord William Turner

Pont de Bercy, Paris; ?Seine Valley, Normandy

1832

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Seine and Paris Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 174 × 117 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D23996
Turner Bequest CCLIV 58 a

Catalogue entry

With the sketchbook turned horizontally, Turner drew a north-westerly view across central Paris at the top of this page. With the Seine in the foreground and the two western towers of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in the distance, the centre of the scene is occupied by the suspension bridge crossing the river at Bercy. This piece of engineering would have been new to Turner on the 1832 tour, having been opened by Louis-Philippe, King of the French, only in the February of that year. Below is a panoramic view across a riverside landscape from a high vantage with wooded hills, buildings, and perhaps figures in the bottom left-hand corner.

John Chu
July 2014

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