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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Grand Théâtre and Place Graslin, Nantes c.1826-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Grand Théâtre and Place Graslin, Nantes c.1826–8
D24573
Turner Bequest CCLIX 8
Watercolour, gouache and ink on blue paper, 143 x 195 mm
Blind stamped with the Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX 8’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This view of the Théâtre and Place Graslin as seen from the Rue de Breda Gresset is one of several depictions of Nantes in gouache and watercolour on blue paper which Turner worked up after his 1826 visit to the city.1 The balustrade on the left-hand side of the scene was invented by Turner and the Italianate tower is depicted on the wrong side of the theatre. The work is based on pencil sketches in the Morlaise to Nantes and Nantes, Angers and Saumur sketchbooks; see entry for Tate D23089 (Turner Bequest CCXLVII 48) and D23151 (Turner Bequest CCXLVIII 1).2 See the Introduction to this section for a list of comparable studies of the city.
1
Ian Warrell, Turner on the Loire, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1997, p.238.
2
Ibid. p.219.
Technical Notes:
The sheet belongs to a batch of lightweight blue paper used by Turner made by George Steart of Bally, Ellen and Steart at De Montault Mill, Coombe Down, Bath.1
1
Ibid. p.238.
Verso:
The sheet is laid down onto a sheet of cream paper on the verso. This is inscribed in pencil with the notes ‘CCLIX – 8’ and ‘14’ in the centre. Stamped in black with the Turner Bequest monogram and with ‘CCLIX – 8’ in the bottom left-hand corner.

John Chu
March 2016

How to cite

John Chu, ‘Grand Théâtre and Place Graslin, Nantes c.1826–8 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-grand-theatre-and-place-graslin-nantes-r1185506, accessed 28 March 2024.