L12040

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Lot 184
  • 184

Joseph Mallord William Turner R.A.

Estimate
300,000 - 500,000 GBP
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Description

  • Joseph Mallord William Turner R.A.
  • THE DOMLESCHG VALLEY, LOOKING NORTH TO THE GORGE AT ROTHENBRÜNNEN
  • Watercolour over pencil with scratching out, some gum arabic and heightened with dry brush point, on wove paper, watermarked: J Whatman / TURKEY MILL / 1840

Provenance

Probably John Ruskin (1785-1864);
John Ruskin (1819-1900);
his sale, London, Christie's, 15 April 1869, lot 137 (119 gns. to Agnew's) as 'Alpine Torrent and Pass';
John Heugh, his sale, London, Christie's, 24 April 1874, lot 86 (190 gns. to Vokins) as 'A Swiss Mountain Torrent';
Charles Sachville Bale, his sale, London, Christie's, 14 May 1881, lot 193 (210 gns. to Innes) as 'A View in Switzerland; with a Mountain Torrent in the Foreground';
Lt. Col. J.A. Innes, his sale, 16 Hertford Street London, 18 August 1928, lot 235;
by descent to his widow Lady Evelyn Joly de Lotbinière;
by family descent;
sale, London, Christie's, 7 June 2001, lot 161;
with Richard Green Ltd;
Guy and Myriam Ullens; their sale, London, Sotheby's, 4 July 2007, lot 1 (£311,200)

Exhibited

London, Leggatt's, Turner, 1960, no. 23;
London, Agnew's, 150th Anniversary Loan Exhibition, Paintings and Watercolours by J.M.W. Turner, R.A, 1967, no. 77

Literature

Sir Walter Armstrong, Turner, London 1902, p. 239;
E.T. Cook and A. Wedderburn, The Works of John Ruskin, London 1903-12, vol XIII, p. 57;
A. Wilton, The Life and Work of J.M.W. Turner, London 1979, p. 481, no. 1508

Condition

This condition report was carried out 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."

Catalogue Note

Described by John Ruskin, as not only 'an exquisite sketch,' but 'one of the most beautiful existing of the late time,'1 a mere glance at the provenance of this watercolour demonstrates the dramatic increase in value which subsequent collectors have placed upon this particular 'sample study.' The entirely different artistic approach of Turner demonstrated in this brilliantly coloured watercolour, his strikingly original and idiosyncratic technical manner, highlights his revolutionary role in the art of landscape representation in watercolour. The Art Union acknowledged that watercolour under Turner's leadership 'had in our own time been revived with such extension of its capabilities, and such novelty in its manipulations, as to render it almost a new art,' concluding that Turner was quite 'the wonder-working artist.'2

This watercolour enables the viewer to marvel at the spontaneity and confidence of Turner's draughtsmanship. Delicate impressions of colour are washed over underlying pencil strokes, deftly capturing the geological structure of this landscape view and illustrating recognisable topographical detail. Enlivening this dramatically steep and narrow landscape, Turner emphasises the windswept water of the river which hurriedly pushes through the gorge. Superbly energetic in his application, leaving areas of white paper untouched by pigment or pencil, or scratching out wet pigment, Turner emphasises the white spray of the water, and heightens the apparent strength of the river's force with dark, almost dry pigment applied with a brush.

As Cecilia Powell has kindly pointed out this is a view in the Domleschg Valley, looking north to the dramatic gorge at Rothenbrünnen. The bridge over the Hinterrhein at Rothenbrünnen is just indicated on the left while the village of that name lies beneath the light rectangular tower on the hillside, at the exact centre of the drawing. Prominently silhouetted on the hillside on the right are (from left to right): Schloss Ortenstein, the church of S. Lorenz and the ruined tower of Alt-Sins. In the distance immediately to the right of Schloss Ortenstein can be seen the spires of Tomils Church. Turner drew this sketch about halfway along the valley between Thusis and Rothenbrünnen and he would have been standing on the bridge linking the villages of Rodels and Realta.

Turner consulted Murray's handbook to Switzerland which movingly proclaimed the area as the 'most sublime and tremendous defile in Switzerland' and continued to extoll the thrill of travelling through the close ravine on the following three pages.3 Not surprisingly perhaps Turner passed through the Domleschg Valley in 1841 and was inspired to return and study it again more extensively in 1843.

On his return visit he drew not only the Thusis with the Rhine Bridge and The Via Mala,4 but as Peter Bower has recently revealed, completed this watercolour and other sketches in the now dismembered 'Domleschg Valley' Sketchbook.5 Not intended to be considered a 'finished work' by Turner this is a 'sample study' from which his agent Thomas Griffith might secure commissions.

A tentative comparison with a finished watercolour of a similar subject by John Robert Cozens (1752-1799) entitled Near Chiavenna in the Grison, circa 1799, illustrates just how far the now 68 year old Turner had brought the art of recording landscapes of Switzerland in watercolour. Turner initially trained under Dr Thomas Monro copying works by John Robert Cozens. Then considered the most dramatic and sublime representations of alpine scenery, the powerful exaggerated scale of the mountains and the intensity of the monochrome palette remains impressive today. 

1. As quoted in R. Upstone, Turner; The Final Years: Watercolours 1840-1851, 1993, pp. 16-172
2. As quoted in Ian Warrell, Turner The Great Watercolours, 2000, p. 45, ff. 71 and 72
3. John Murray, A Hand-book for Travellers in Switzerland, Savoy and Piedmont, 1838, p. 205 then followed on pp. 206-8
4. TB CCCXXXVI-19 and TB CCCIXIV-362
5. Though dated 1843 they are drawn on paper dated 1840