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

With the page turned horizontally, the skyline of Amsterdam is seen to the south-west across the River IJ. From left to right, identifiable features include the spires of the Zuiderkerk and Oude Kerk to the left of the cupola of the Royal Palace and slim spire of the Nieuwe Kerk, the lost Jan Roodenpoortstoren, the dome of the Ronde Lutherse Kerk (‘round Lutheran church’) and the ‘Westertoren’ steeple of the Westerkerk.

Turner’s inscriptions tell much about how he experienced the scene, with colour notes indicating that he made the drawing in the late afternoon, with the sun was setting on the right and casting a progressively ‘Yel[lo]w’, ‘Orange’ and ‘Red’ glow over the ‘Blue’ waters.1 There is a continuation at the top right, with windmills to the north-west of the city and the sun shown again, with a habitual zig-zag reflection. The riverfront has since been extensively developed, with the Westerdok and Oosterdok, the Victorian railway station and tower blocks; see under folio 81 recto (D18999) for other views in and around the city in this book and elsewhere.

The viewpoint along the IJ’s then undeveloped north bank shows rough vegetation and the cursory outlines of one or two of the cows Turner appears to note there, near the isolated Tolhuis (see folios 112 recto and verso; D19060–D19061) or a little further west around the village of Nieuwendam. The latter is now a suburb some way from the water, behind a strip of reclaimed land; it is noted as the viewpoint on Tate D19501 (Turner Bequest CCXV 62) in the contemporary Holland, Meuse and Cologne sketchbook, one of several pages there showing related prospects. Compare the skylines on D19500 and D19512 (CCXV 61a, 67a); the latter also features a low sun, as does the waterfront view on folio 113 recto in the present book (D19062). There are similar views on folio 118 recto opposite (D19072).

Of particular interest on the present page is Turner’s other note, ‘quite a Cyp’, using his customary spelling to evoke the renowned landscape painter Aelbert Cuyp (1620–1691), likely both in terms of the rural setting and the serene sky effects over water characteristic of the Dutch artist. He annotated scenes of Dordrecht with riverside cattle in a similar way on folio 60 verso (D18058), under which other examples are noted, including folio 131 recto (D19098).2 Gerald Wilkinson suggested that Turner was ‘very relaxed, and even jokes’ in making such a comparison.3