J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Southern Germany, Austria and Venice ... > Venice up to Trento Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Alpine Mountain Scenes, with Distant Buildings 1833

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Alpine Mountain Scenes, with Distant Buildings’ 1833
Folio 95 Verso:
Alpine Mountain Scenes, with Distant Buildings 1833
D31783
Turner Bequest CCCXII 95a
Pencil on white laid paper, 203 x 109 mm
Partial watermark: crescent moon with face in profile
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?Red]’ above right of centre, and ‘[?g...]’ left of centre, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There are three rapid mountain valley sketches, with the most substantial at the top and the others inverted in relation to it and the sketchbook’s foliation. There seem to be indications of buildings here and there, and the briefest of annotations.
Over half of the pages in this book comprise relatively slight sketches from Turner’s homeward route north through the valleys of the Alps via Trento, Bolzano (Bozen) and Innsbruck. As set out in the Introduction, although his overall itinerary is clear from many identified subjects, they were are not drawn in a single sequence, making the rugged scenes between them difficult to place.

Matthew Imms
May 2019

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Alpine Mountain Scenes, with Distant Buildings 1833’, catalogue entry, May 2019, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2023, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/alpine-mountain-scenes-with-distant-buildings-r1203977, accessed 08 May 2025.