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 The Reep Canal, Ghent, with the East End of the Cathedral and the Belfry in the Distance; Studies of Boats 1825

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Reep Canal, Ghent, with the East End of the Cathedral and the Belfry in the Distance; Studies of Boats’ 1825
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 204 Verso:
The Reep Canal, Ghent, with the East End of the Cathedral and the Belfry in the Distance; Studies of Boats 1825
D19245
Turner Bequest CCXIV 204a
Pencil on white wove paper, 95 x 155 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned horizontally, the loosely rendered view is south-westwards along the Reep canal off the River Leie in Ghent; later buildings preclude a clear view of the cathedral, at the centre, and the Belfry (the Belfort) beyond to its north-west towards the right. As well as the hull of a barge seen obliquely in the main view, there are overlapping studies of boats towards the bottom (outer) edge.
The east end of the cathedral is shown from further forward along the Reep on folio 205 recto opposite (D19246). For other views of Ghent in this sketchbook and elsewhere, see under folio 201 verso (D19239), and see the book’s Introduction for discussion of its many shipping studies.

Matthew Imms and Quirine van der Meer Mohr
September 2020

How to cite

Matthew Imms and Quirine van der Meer Mohr, ‘The Reep Canal, Ghent, with the East End of the Cathedral and the Belfry in the Distance; Studies of Boats 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-the-reep-canal-ghent-with-the-east-end-of-the-cathedral-and-r1202597, accessed 04 April 2026.