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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and French ... > Holland Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies of Boats under Sail off Dordrecht, with the Rietdijkse Poort, Grote Kerk, Bonifatiuskerk and Groothoofdspoort in the Distance 1825

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Studies of Boats under Sail off Dordrecht, with the Rietdijkse Poort, Grote Kerk, Bonifatiuskerk and Groothoofdspoort in the Distance’ 1825
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 49 Verso:
Studies of Boats under Sail off Dordrecht, with the Rietdijkse Poort, Grote Kerk, Bonifatiuskerk and Groothoofdspoort in the Distance 1825
D18936
Turner Bequest CCXIV 49a
Pencil on white wove paper, 95 x 155 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turned horizontally, the page comprises several interrelated bands of sketches, with boats under sail off Dordrecht, and the square tower and crossing spire of the Grote Kerk and the nearer cupola of the Groothoofdspoort (towards the right of the upper two views; see under folio 48 verso; D18934) in various juxtapositions in south-westerly directions, indicating that the viewpoints were around where the Beneden Merwede river forks into the Oude Maas (Old Meuse) and the Noord.
The cupola between the church and the Groothoofdspoort is that of the new Bonifatiuskerk (see under folio 57 verso; D18952), overlooking the Wijnhaven, while the gateway shown to the left appears to be the lost Rietdijkse Poort (see also folios 50 recto opposite, 51 verso and 61 recto; D18937, D18940 and D18959) on the Riedijkshaven, now lined with later buildings. See this sketchbook’s Introduction for discussion of its many shipping studies.
There are similar views on folio 50 recto opposite (D18937). See under folio 47 recto (D18931) for other views in and around the city in this book and elsewhere, many of which feature the Grote Kerk.

Matthew Imms and Quirine van der Meer Mohr
September 2020

How to cite

Matthew Imms and Quirine van der Meer Mohr, ‘Studies of Boats under Sail off Dordrecht, with the Rietdijkse Poort, Grote Kerk, Bonifatiuskerk and Groothoofdspoort in the Distance 1825 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2020, 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/joseph-mallord-william-turner-studies-of-boats-under-sail-off-dordrecht-with-the-r1202288, accessed 06 November 2025.