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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > First Italian Tour 1819-20 > Passage of the Simplon Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Mountains, near the Simplon Pass 1819

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Mountains, near the Simplon Pass’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 8 Recto:
Mountains, near the Simplon Pass 1819
D16904
Turner Bequest CXCIV 8
Pencil on white wove paper, 121 x 195 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘dark | Cloud light [?and] W | at the bottom’ top right of sketch, and ‘[?G... of B] | Road’ bottom right
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘8’, bottom left, descending left-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CXCIV 8’ bottom left, descending left-hand edge
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The dark, uneven tone of the grey watercolour wash on this page makes Turner’s pencil drawing difficult to see. It clearly depicts a view within the mountains near the Simplon Pass, although the precise location is unidentified and it is not known whether it represents the outward or return route. The artist has annotated the drawing with notes concerning atmospheric effects and other details.
For a general discussion of Turner’s expedition to the Simplon Pass see the introduction to the sketchbook.

Nicola Moorby
April 2011

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Mountains, near the Simplon Pass 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2011, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-mountains-near-the-simplon-pass-r1132779, accessed 26 April 2024.