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

This study may relate to Turner’s 1836 tour of the Alps, which he made in the company of the wealthy Scottish landowner H.A.J. Munro of Novar; for more information, see the Introduction to this section.

The Turner scholar David Hill has argued this study relates to the 1836 tour, citing stylistic similarities and a close correspondence with an unidentified sketch of a tower in France’s Val de la Maurienne in the 1836 Fort Bard Sketchbook (Tate D29240; Turner Bequest CCXCIV 14 a). Art historians have also associated the study with the Via Mala, a narrow Swiss gorge near the Splügen and San Bernadino mountain passes, and suggested a later dating of c.1843.1

The connection Hill made with the Fort Bard Sketchbook is quite convincing, and the colour palette is comparable to other colour studies which have been associated with the 1836 tour. For example, D36176 (Turner Bequest CCCLXIV 318) has both a similar colour palette and, potentially, shows a view from nearby in the Val de la Maurienne; see the entry for further information. Despite the similarity to this and related sheets, however, the link is hardly conclusive and the later dating and alternative subject matter discussed by Warrell remains a possibility.

The study is particularly rich in terms of the depiction of light and colour, employing watercolour and gouache to emphasise the dramatic sight of the gorge.

Verso:

The verso could not be inspected at the time of cataloguing.