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

Numerous boats are moored in the foreground, with the largest seen from the stern at the centre. Beyond, the skyline of Amsterdam is seen south-westwards across the River IJ, with the Oosterkerk over the jetty towards the left, a spire or two at the centre, and what is likely the ‘Westertoren’ steeple of the Westerkerk beyond the dome of the Ronde Lutherse Kerk (‘round Lutheran church’) towards the right. Turner’s inscription above related views on folio 62 recto (D19501) suggests that the setting is Nieuwendam. The village is now a suburb some way from the water on the northern shore of the IJ, behind a strip of reclaimed land, while the Amsterdam riverfront has since been extensively developed, with the Westerdok and Oosterdok, the Victorian railway station and tower blocks, making the precise viewpoint doubly difficult to establish.

There is a brief, inconsequential continuation to the left on folio 65 recto opposite (D19507). Similar views on adjacent pages are noted under folio 61 verso (D19500); compare in particular folios 62 verso and 63 verso (D19502, D19504). For others of Amsterdam in this sketchbook and elsewhere, see under folio 59 verso (D19497).