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 > Milan to Venice Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Gondolas on the Grand Canal, Venice, Possibly beside the Albergo Leon Bianco (Palazzo Cavalli) 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Gondolas on the Grand Canal, Venice, Possibly beside the Albergo Leon Bianco (Palazzo Cavalli)’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 38 Verso:
Gondolas on the Grand Canal, Venice, Possibly beside the Albergo Leon Bianco (Palazzo Cavalli) 1819
D14386
Turner Bequest CLXXV 38a
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 185 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘B’ bottom left
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, this rapid sketch focuses on gondolas, probably on the Grand Canal. It is possible that the loosely indicated structure on the left is the north-east corner of the Palazzo Cavalli (or Corner Martinengo Ravà), then the Albergo Leon Bianco, where Turner apparently stayed during his visit, on the south side of the canal west of the Rialto Bridge. This is by comparison with the clearer drawing on folio 49 recto (D14407)
The drawings on folios 37 verso–39 verso (D14384–D14388) are all of a similarly slight character, with more attention paid to the small craft than their settings. For other studies of boats in this sketchbook, see under the recto (D14383).

Matthew Imms
March 2017

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Gondolas on the Grand Canal, Venice, Possibly beside the Albergo Leon Bianco (Palazzo Cavalli) 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2017, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, July 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-gondolas-on-the-grand-canal-venice-possibly-beside-the-r1186499, accessed 24 September 2024.