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

Here Turner depicts the Coolsingel fish market on the Leuvehaven at Rotterdam. The drawing was developed into a finished watercolour – the only known watercolour of a Dutch subject by Turner – and engraved by William Floyd for the second volume of the Gallery of Modern British Artists (see Tate impression T05149).1 The fish market is roughly sketched out in the foreground, though none of the townsfolk which crowd the foreground of the final watercolour design has been recorded in this preliminary sketch. In the background the tower of St Lawrence’s Church is visible, followed by the tower of the Walloon Church in Hoogstraat and the turret and dome of St Dominicus’ Church. The note ‘Fish Market’ is inscribed at bottom right.