J.M.W. Turner

Exhibited by Colnaghi Elliott Master Drawings

Material Watercolour and goauche with pen and red ink on blue paper

Dimensions 13.9 x 19.4 cm (5 ½ x 7 ¾ in)

Status Vetted

About the Work

J.M.W. Turner’s vibrant and energetic View of Givet, a strategically important French town on the river Meuse, close to the Belgian border, dates to 1839. Prior to the Sotheby’s sale in 2008, this important gouache was unknown.

Only three 1839 gouaches had hitherto been associated with French towns: a distant view of Givet from the north, in a private collection; a view of Mezières, in Tate Britain; and a view of Sedan, also in Tate Britain. The discovery of the present sheet marks a ‘superb addition’ to this small collection of French subject and, as Cecilia Powell notes, ‘gives one reason to hope that further scenes in this series will come to light.

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Provenance

Agnew’s, Manchester;
Purchased by a Private Collection in 1968;
Thence by descent until;
Sotheby’s, London, 4 December 2009, lot 180;
Where acquired, Private Collection, London.