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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Burg Reichenstein, on the River Rhine 1840

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 63 Recto:
Burg Reichenstein, on the River Rhine 1840
D30579
Turner Bequest CCCIII 62
Pencil on flecked pale blue laid paper, 104 x 170 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘62’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCCIII – 62’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The drawing was made with the page turned horizontally. As identified by Cecilia Powell,1 it shows Burg Reichenstein, since much restored, above Trechtingshausen on the west bank of the River Rhine.
Powell has noted that Turner neared the end of this tour following ‘the familiar route of the Rhine between Mainz and Cologne. He almost certainly travelled by steamer, ... sketching most of the well-known sights perfunctorily as he passed.’2 Given that this sketchbook was used in reverse of its subsequent foliation, she has specified the overall range of this phase as ‘TB CCCIII 68v–20v; 11r’,3 indicating folios 12 recto and 21 verso–69 verso (D30479, D30497–D30592; Turner Bequest CCCIII 20a–68a); see this book’s Introduction for the full itinerary of this part of the journey.
The castle also appears on folio 62 verso opposite (D30578; CCCIII 61a), under which other drawings are noted.

Matthew Imms
September 2018

1
Powell 1995, p.246.
2
Ibid., p.72.
3
Ibid., p.82 note 70.

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Burg Reichenstein, on the River Rhine 1840 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2018, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2019, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-burg-reichenstein-on-the-river-rhine-r1196336, accessed 28 March 2024.