Joseph Mallord William Turner

View up the Alzette Valley, Luxembourg, with the Fortifications of the Rham Plateau

c.1839

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Meuse-Moselle Gouache and Watercolour Drawings
Medium
Gouache, pen and ink and watercolour on paper
Dimensions
Support: 138 × 192 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D20270
Turner Bequest CCXXII K

Catalogue entry

In this drawing Turner depicts the Rham Plateau at Luxembourg from the westerly vantage point, looking back eastwards along the Alzette valley past the Porte de Thionville. The palette is muted: comprised of earthy tones of ochre, moss green, teal and grey, and is similar to Tate D20272; Turner Bequest CCXXII M.
A deep rust-red ink is used and applied with hairline strokes of the pen to render the fissures and crags of the plateau and to delineate the fortifications and architecture of the city.
The composition is close to a rough pencil drawing in the Givet, Mézières, Verdun, Metz, Luxemburg and Trèves sketchbook of c.1839 (Tate D28231; Turner Bequest CCLXXXVIII 34).
Technical notes:
There is some foxing on the verso of the drawing.
Verso:
Inscribed in pencil ‘7’ centre towards right; stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram and ‘CCXXII–K’ at bottom left.

Alice Rylance-Watson
June 2013

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