Joseph Mallord William Turner R.A. 1775-1851

Sir John Swinburne, Capheaton Hall, Northumberland;
by family descent;
Anonymous sale Christie's London, 26th April 1902, lot 49 (bt. Mallard);
Miss Julia Swinburne;
Barnet Lewis, his sale Christie's London, 28th February 1930, lot 50 (bt £1,575 Leggatt);
G.R. Stamp;
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's London, 14th July 1988, lot 94; 
with Richard Green Ltd

London, Burlington House, 1887;
London, Agnew's, 1904, no. 205;
Aosta, Museo Archeologico Regionale, Joseph Mallord William Turner, 2000, no.9

Sir Walter Armstrong, Turner, 1902, p.243;
Andrew Wilton, JMW Turner: His Art and Life, 1979, p. 345, no. 400;
Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of JMW Turner, 1984, p.39;
David Blaney Brown, Turner in the Alps, 1998, p. 26;
David Hill, Joseph Mallord William Turner, 2000, p 64, pl. 9 

Engraved:

A. H. Davis, The Bijou or Annual of Literature and the Arts, 1836 (R. 313)

This condition report has been provided by: JANE McAUSLAND London office: Flat 3, 41 Lexington Street, Soho, London W1F 9AJ Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works Accredited member of the Institute of Paper Conservation Jane McAusland Limited trading as Jane McAusland FIIC Support Turner has used a wove Whatman paper, (showing a watermark in the sky to the left) to support this watercolour. It appears that the artist has fully laid down this sheet onto another thinner sheet and then adhered this to a laminated card. The remains of glue show on the verso at the edges. The condition of this support is good, showing no damages, foxing or staining. On the right-hand side there is an original paper crease near the top of the trees. Medium The watercolour pigments are on the whole bright, though typically there is fading in the more delicate tints as this work has been exposed to the light. There are a few small retouched areas, in the sky on the left and on the wall at the foot. Note: This work was viewed outside studio conditions.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In this serene and carefully composed watercolour a woman, dressed in recognisably continental attire, pauses on a road to arrange her belongings and produce. Her pretty straw hat shelters her from the glare of the hot sun as she gazes directly at us, as if actually engaged with us in conversation. Her presence intermittently attracts our attention away from the clear and open road which stretches out invitingly.

Preventing our eye from passing too quickly down the road, Turner also pays great attention to foreground detail. He has gone to great lengths to depict the foliage of the undergrowth which sprawls at will amongst the ruins. Scratching out the wet watercolour pigment then preserving the lighter areas with stopping out, Turner delineates the fall of light upon leaves, and returns with darker pigments to emphasise the shadows.

Brilliant sunlight falls upon the Chateaux which literally gleams in the centre of the composition. Beyond are the mountains of the Haute Savoie whose crags and crevices stretch along the Arve Valley. Turner alternates his use of light and shadow throughout this composition. Rolling clouds overhead which skim the peaks of the mountains, cast occasional shadows. Graduating tones of blue denote the undulating forms of these formidable and imposing mountains, the white tip of Mont Blanc just visible on the distant horizon ensuring that our eye is drawn through the whole composition.

By 1817 the date of this watercolour, in the fifteen years since his actual visit to the area, Bonneville had witnessed the ravages of the Napoleonic wars.[i] Turner re-develops the composition of his large scale oil painting entitled Château de St Michael, Bonneville, Savoy exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1803 (Yale Centre for British Art, New Haven). It is widely acknowledged that Turner paid homage in his art to the works of Old Master painters admired in private and public collections.[ii] It has been suggested that the composition of this painting was influenced by Nicholas Poussin's Roman Road (Dulwich Picture Gallery). This painting had been exhibited for sale in Berners Sreet, London in 1802 (no.55) and may have caught Turner's eye on his return from the continent. Turner referred to this Poussin in his 'Backgrounds' lecture delivered in February 1811, as Professor of Perspective at the Royal Academy. Turner claimed that this work was a 'powerful specimen of Historic Landscape, in which the rules of parallel perspective produce propriety even in landscape... where a road terminates in the middle of the picture and every line it tends to that centre.'[iii]

The compositional quotation from Poussin's use of a straight central road in this watercolour must surely now serve to denote a familiar timeless quality to this Alpine location. Turner imposes the design of The Roman Road, but infuses the scene with great attention to light, shade and direct observation. He now presents a poetic and possibly nostalgic interpretation of a young Swiss girl at Bonneville. Imbuing this sunlit landscape with charming details, and a romantic character, Turner moves away from idealised classically dressed figures and austere formal lighting of earlier artists.[iv] Clearly losing none of its appeal the composition was again used in engraved form by Davies for the annual, The Bijou in 1829.

i] Earlier sketches of this subject include Bonneville from the Geneva Road (TB LXXV, 7 D04599 and LXXV 16, D04608) and Bonneville and the Chamonix Road (TB LXXX H, D04901) dated 1817. The composition is most directly based on a coloured drawing originally in the 'St Gothard and Mont Blanc' Sketchbook (Courtauld Institute Galleries).

[ii] See 'Studies in the Louvre' Sketchbook (TB LXXII). David Blaney-Brown also suggests that Turner would have seen the works of Claude Lorrain (1604-1682) amongst others in the houses of his patrons who included; Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Julius Angerstein and William Beckford amongst others (see D Blaney Brown, lit.op.cit., 1998, p.11)

[iii] See M. Butlin and E. Joll, lit.op.cit., 1984, p, 39. Butlin and Joll also suggest that Turner may have been introduced to Noel Desenfans who became the owner of Poussin's Roman Road, by Francis Bourgeois RA.

[iv] Contemporary aesthetic discourse had advocated the use of Old Master painters as bench marks for aesthetic excellence and Turner's awareness of art historical precedents is well documented. However, in his attention to details Turner adheres to Richard Payne Knight's emphasis upon technical virtuosity rather than slavish imitation, see Analytical Inquiry into the Nature and Principles of Taste, 1805, p. 89-92. Further urging artists such as Turner to distance their works from art historical precedent, Archibald Alison asserted that it was 'not for imitation we look, but for character. It is not the art, but the genius of the painter, which now gives value to his compositions: and the language he employs is found not only to speak to the eye, but to affect the imagination and the heart,' see Archibald Alison, Essays on the Nature and Principles of Taste, 3^rd ed. 2 vols, 1812, p. 128-9.