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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Northern France 1832 > Seine and Paris Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Coastal Terrain near Le Havre, Normandy 1832

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Coastal Terrain near Le Havre, Normandy’ 1832
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 85 Recto:
Coastal Terrain near Le Havre, Normandy 1832
D24049
Turner Bequest CCLIV 85
Pencil on white wove paper, 174 x 117 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘85’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ink ‘CCLIV – 85’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the sketchbook turned horizontally, Turner filled this page with small seaside views. Art historian Ian Warrell has identified this and neighbouring sketches in the volume as depictions of the coastal hinterlands around Le Havre where the Seine debouches into the English Channel. Special attention has been paid to the way in which the jagged skyline of human settlement punctuates the horizon between sea and sky. Towards the top right-hand corner Turner has caught the effect of the masts of ships rising above buildings to reveal the presence of a hidden dock. A list of pages in the sketchbook featuring Le Havre and Cap de la Hève is provided in the entry for folio 48 recto (D23975; Turner Bequest CCLIV 48).

John Chu
July 2014

How to cite

John Chu, ‘Coastal Terrain near Le Havre, Normandy 1832 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-coastal-terrain-near-le-havre-normandy-r1173454, accessed 23 April 2024.