Joseph Mallord William Turner

The village of Chokier lies on the left bank of the Meuse in the province of Liège and is dominated by the Château du Chokier overlooking the valley. The eighteenth-century castle is depicted simply in linear profile in the uppermost drawing, Turner inscribing ‘C Chokier’ at the foot of the precipice. The artist had sketched at Chokier on two previous occasions; see drawings in the Rivers Meuse and Moselle sketchbook of 1824 (Tate D19611; Turner Bequest CCXVI 30a) and the Brussels up to Mannheim-Rhine sketchbook of 1833 (Tate D29754; Turner bequest CCXCVI 81).

The sketch below depicts the Abbey at Flône (Amay) in the province of Liège. Founded in 1075, the site is located on the banks of the Meuse, indicated by the riverboats at the water’s edge. The lattice-like pattern of brickwork on the facades of the abbey’s towers and the slightest suggestion of the belfry are discernable. Turner had visited Flône during his 1824 tour, making drawings of the Abbey in the Rivers Meuse and Moselle sketchbook (Tate D19620, D19642; Turner Bequest CCXVI 35, 46a).

The remaining sketches show a small church with a steeple overlooking the Meuse valley and a distant hilly topography. Turner appears to have inscribed the word ‘Meuse’ inversely towards the bottom right of the page.