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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1836-47 Modern painter > Tour to the Alps 1836 > Val d'Aosta Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Two Sketches: Arvier in the Val d'Aosta; Aosta, with the Roman Bridge and Arch of Augustus 1836

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Two Sketches: Arvier in the Val d'Aosta; Aosta, with the Roman Bridge and Arch of Augustus’ 1836
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 3 Verso:
Two Sketches: Arvier in the Val d’Aosta; Aosta, with the Roman Bridge and Arch of Augustus 1836
D29037
Turner Bequest CCXCIII 3a
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 190 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Vins’ lower centre
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page contains two sketches:
i. (main sketch, above) Arvier, in the Val d’Aosta, looking up the valley from below the village, Mont Paramont above the church spire, and the upper stretches of the valley to the right. Arvier is famous for its wines, and vines (noted by Turner as ‘Vins’) are cultivated near this spot to this day.
ii. (below, inverted in relation to the main sketch) Aosta, from above the Roman bridge, panning right to the Augustan Arch, town and church of St Ours, with mountains in the background.
Turner was evidently squeezing these sketches into any remaining space as he worked backwards through the book. He finished the book at Aosta, then moving on to work in the Fort Bard sketchbook (Tate D29213–D29237; D29239–D29264; D29266–D29273; D29275–D29377; D41206–D41208; Turner Bequest CCXCIV).

David Hill
June 2010

How to cite

David Hill, ‘Two Sketches: Arvier in the Val d’Aosta; Aosta, with the Roman Bridge and Arch of Augustus 1836 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, June 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-two-sketches-arvier-in-the-val-daosta-aosta-with-the-roman-r1144586, accessed 24 April 2024.