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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1836-47 Modern painter > Autumn Tour of Northern France 1845 > Eu and Treport Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Eu and the Coast from the North 1845

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Eu and the Coast from the North’ 1845
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Eu and the Coast from the North 1845
D35439
Turner Bequest CCCLIX 4
Pencil and watercolour on white wove paper, 232 x 326 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in illegible red ink bottom right
Stamped in black ink ‘CCCLIX 4’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Ian Warrell indentifies this as one of a series of three views taken from the high hill to the north of Eu;1 see also D35441 and D35450 (CCCLIX 6, 15). A relatively complex application of watercolour washes describes the town in the midst of the Bresle valley with the sea beyond, as indicated by a wedge of light blue in the upper right quadrant. Particularly prominent amongst the visible landmarks is the pink and dark-blue bulk of the medieval collégiale, or ‘collegiate church’ of Notre-Dame and St-Laurent towards the left-hand side of the leaf.2 To the immediate right of this is the Château d’Eu, the summer palace of King Louis-Philippe,3 whose connection to Turner and to this final trip is set out in the tour Introduction.
1
Warrell 1995, p.39.
2
For a contemporary description of the collegiate church, see John Murray (ed.), Hand-Book for Travellers in France, revised ed., London, Paris and Leipzig 1844, pp.66–7.
3
For a contemporary description of the palace, see ibid., pp.67–9.
Verso:
In addition to blue and ochre patches of watercolour, the upper right quadrant of the verso features three slight pencil sketches. These consist of looping lines, perhaps to describe trees and two comparable sketches apparently showing small structures on steep hillsides. Next to these, ‘?Cows’ is inscribed, also in pencil.

John Chu
February 2014

How to cite

John Chu, ‘Eu and the Coast from the North 1845 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-eu-and-the-coast-from-the-north-r1173535, accessed 26 April 2024.