Joseph Mallord William Turner

Two Distant Views of Spa

1839

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In Tate Britain

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Spa, Dinant and Namur Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 94 × 154 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D28078
Turner Bequest CCLXXXVII 19

Catalogue entry

Rendered in fine, deliberate line but left largely undeveloped, Turner here depicts the town of Spa in the Walloon region of Belgium, a site famed for its healing mineral springs. With the sketchbook orientated horizontally, the narrower of the two sketches runs parallel to the gutter and offers an extensive panorama. The sketch above it incorporates an outline of the architecture of Spa and an impression of the hillside rising above the town centre.
For other views of Spa in this sketchbook see Tate D28082–D28083, D28086–D28092, D28107–D28116; Turner Bequest CCLXXXVII 21–21a, 23–6, 34a–39a.

Alice Rylance-Watson
April 2013

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