Watercolor by Turner
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Turner Illustrators
Chronology : 1840-1849
See also : Turner Illustrators
Chronology : 1840-1849
Intro
Joseph Mallord William Turner found his vocation at the age of ten by coloring a book of engravings on English antiquities. He then visited various tourist sites of England. The first subject of his artistic interest is the architectural drawing.
Thomas Girtin has the same age and passion. When they meet in 1794 they are 19 years old. Girtin already takes advantage of the fluidity of watercolor to create images of monuments and landscapes that prefigure the romanticism.
Three years later Turner was enthused by Norham Castle over the Tweed, which had been abandoned when the advent of the Stuarts made obsolete the border disputes between England and Scotland. In one morning of very fine weather, the young man gets up before sunrise to admire the color of the sky behind the ruins. The atmosphere has become more important than the monument.
Like other English artists Turner works in a workshop according to his sketches. He does not master oil painting properly. His first masterpieces, highly admired at the Royal Academy's exhibition in London in 1798, are watercolors.
One of them of large size 52 x 74 cm shows the sunrise over Norham. It was sold for £ 580K by Christie's on July 5, 2017, lot 105.
This picture is a study of luminosity highlighted by the sky and the reflections on the river. Much balanced in its composition, it is altogether romantic with the outlines of the tall towers, rural with the water mill where the daily life is beginning, and bucolic with the cows coming down from the hill to soak their paws in the ford.
Turner accompanies this 1798 exhibition with a quotation in the catalog. He selected four lines from The Seasons by the local poet of southern Scotland, James Thomson. A contemporary of Rousseau and admired by Voltaire and a forerunner of Robert Burns, Thomson praised the merits of nature in words that moved the young artist.
After the Napoleonic wars, Turner will add a pacifist dimension to this poetic inclination, seeking to rediscover throughout Europe the observations and arguments of Lord Byron.
Thomas Girtin has the same age and passion. When they meet in 1794 they are 19 years old. Girtin already takes advantage of the fluidity of watercolor to create images of monuments and landscapes that prefigure the romanticism.
Three years later Turner was enthused by Norham Castle over the Tweed, which had been abandoned when the advent of the Stuarts made obsolete the border disputes between England and Scotland. In one morning of very fine weather, the young man gets up before sunrise to admire the color of the sky behind the ruins. The atmosphere has become more important than the monument.
Like other English artists Turner works in a workshop according to his sketches. He does not master oil painting properly. His first masterpieces, highly admired at the Royal Academy's exhibition in London in 1798, are watercolors.
One of them of large size 52 x 74 cm shows the sunrise over Norham. It was sold for £ 580K by Christie's on July 5, 2017, lot 105.
This picture is a study of luminosity highlighted by the sky and the reflections on the river. Much balanced in its composition, it is altogether romantic with the outlines of the tall towers, rural with the water mill where the daily life is beginning, and bucolic with the cows coming down from the hill to soak their paws in the ford.
Turner accompanies this 1798 exhibition with a quotation in the catalog. He selected four lines from The Seasons by the local poet of southern Scotland, James Thomson. A contemporary of Rousseau and admired by Voltaire and a forerunner of Robert Burns, Thomson praised the merits of nature in words that moved the young artist.
After the Napoleonic wars, Turner will add a pacifist dimension to this poetic inclination, seeking to rediscover throughout Europe the observations and arguments of Lord Byron.
1815 Lake of Lucerne from Fluelen
2005 SOLD for £ 1.86M by Sotheby's
In the 18th century the Swiss Alps had been considered by the British as an obstacle on their way to the Italian grand tour. Some of them became aware of their high touristic interest. Turner visited Switzerland as early as 1802, aged 27, during a short period of peace.
The perduring Napoleonic wars went to remain an obstacle for free circulation in Europe. Not able in these conditions to revisit Switzerland, Turner long relied on his 1802 sketches for creating new images.
On July 4, 2007, Sotheby's sold for £ 920K an early watercolor 28 x 39 cm of a Swiss landscape by Turner, lot 12. Executed ca 1804-1806, it features the Lake of Thun below a dramatic stormy sky.
A watercolor with scratching out and gum arabic is featuring the Lake of Lucerne from the landing site at Fluelen, which had been a location of intense fighting between the Napoleonic invading troops and the Austrians in 1799.
The Alpine scenery at dawn is animated by local people in their daily occupations. The sun is penetrating the mist over the lake. Turner had compressed the panorama for better expressing the atmosphere of that point which was not yet accessible by the road, without losing the topographic profile of the peaks.
Turner had himself sketched that view in 1802 but its selection for a large watercolor is certainly due to the presence of the Tell's chapel highlighting the birthplace of the Swiss democracy, vividly reminded in a play by Schiller in 1804.
Its terminus ante quem is its exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1815. Still in its contemporary frame 66 x 100 cm, it was sold for £ 1.86M by Sotheby's on July 5, 2005, lot 38.
The perduring Napoleonic wars went to remain an obstacle for free circulation in Europe. Not able in these conditions to revisit Switzerland, Turner long relied on his 1802 sketches for creating new images.
On July 4, 2007, Sotheby's sold for £ 920K an early watercolor 28 x 39 cm of a Swiss landscape by Turner, lot 12. Executed ca 1804-1806, it features the Lake of Thun below a dramatic stormy sky.
A watercolor with scratching out and gum arabic is featuring the Lake of Lucerne from the landing site at Fluelen, which had been a location of intense fighting between the Napoleonic invading troops and the Austrians in 1799.
The Alpine scenery at dawn is animated by local people in their daily occupations. The sun is penetrating the mist over the lake. Turner had compressed the panorama for better expressing the atmosphere of that point which was not yet accessible by the road, without losing the topographic profile of the peaks.
Turner had himself sketched that view in 1802 but its selection for a large watercolor is certainly due to the presence of the Tell's chapel highlighting the birthplace of the Swiss democracy, vividly reminded in a play by Schiller in 1804.
Its terminus ante quem is its exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1815. Still in its contemporary frame 66 x 100 cm, it was sold for £ 1.86M by Sotheby's on July 5, 2005, lot 38.
1822 Margate
2019 SOLD for £ 1.1M by Sotheby's
From his beginning Turner had understood that watercolor could bring beautiful effects comparable to oil, and even better for sunrises and sunsets. He will be the greatest experimenter of this technique throughout his life.
He had predecessors and friends. A stopper varnish to limit the expansion of a color was used before him. Girtin obtains atmosphere and light by his washes on large surfaces. Cozens adapts oil techniques to watercolor for his romantic chiaroscuro.
Turner's great contribution to the art of watercolor is his almost systematic use of wet in wet from around 1815. The color diluted on a wet paper allows to easily prepare the background of the image, offering by simple movements of paper and brush the gradual hues that will make the beauty of the final artwork. After drying, it will of course remain to draw and color the figures that animate the scene. This technique enables to make very large watercolors.
On the other hand, his ambition to reconcile his extreme subtlety of contrasts with the techniques of printing has certainly disconcerted his most benevolent editors.
On July 3, 2019, Sotheby's sold for £ 1.1M a watercolor 43 x 65 cm painted in 1822, lot 417. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This view of Margate at sunrise displays a strong animation of fishermen in the taste of the previous English scenes of the artist. It was conceived as part of a series of Marine Views that was not published following a disagreement between Turner and his editor. A mezzotint engraving of this specific image of Margate was however printed in 1825.
He had predecessors and friends. A stopper varnish to limit the expansion of a color was used before him. Girtin obtains atmosphere and light by his washes on large surfaces. Cozens adapts oil techniques to watercolor for his romantic chiaroscuro.
Turner's great contribution to the art of watercolor is his almost systematic use of wet in wet from around 1815. The color diluted on a wet paper allows to easily prepare the background of the image, offering by simple movements of paper and brush the gradual hues that will make the beauty of the final artwork. After drying, it will of course remain to draw and color the figures that animate the scene. This technique enables to make very large watercolors.
On the other hand, his ambition to reconcile his extreme subtlety of contrasts with the techniques of printing has certainly disconcerted his most benevolent editors.
On July 3, 2019, Sotheby's sold for £ 1.1M a watercolor 43 x 65 cm painted in 1822, lot 417. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
This view of Margate at sunrise displays a strong animation of fishermen in the taste of the previous English scenes of the artist. It was conceived as part of a series of Marine Views that was not published following a disagreement between Turner and his editor. A mezzotint engraving of this specific image of Margate was however printed in 1825.
1840 Venice
2007 SOLD for £ 3M by Sotheby's
Like so many other artists, Turner was dazzled by the one of a kind atmosphere of Venice mingling sun and mist. He developed a new pictorial style for highlighting it. He executed about 150 watercolors during and after his last visit in that city in 1840.
A watercolor painted by Turner around the time of his second trip to Venice in 1840 was sold by Sotheby's on July 4, 2007 for £ 3M from a lower estimate of £ 800K, lot 9.
This view displays the white splendor of the Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore with a storm approaching. The thick mist nearly cancels the tall ships on the basin.
A watercolor 24 x 30 cm displaying the Dogana under the New Moon was sold for £ 960K by Christie's on July 10, 2014, lot 209. The view had been taken by Turner from the steps of his hotel. Its drawing is based on a picture from an earlier visit. The new moon is a reference to a canto about Venice by Byron.
Such an ethereal rendition served as a model for oils on canvas including the Giudecca painted in 1841, sold by Christie's in 2016, and a Dogana closer from that original in 1842.
That watercolor had been provided to his agent Thomas Griffith, possibly to serve as a model for proposing finished watercolors in Venice beside the large format Swiss views offered by him from 1842. Whatever the reason Turner in fact did not paint finished watercolors of Venice.
A watercolor painted by Turner around the time of his second trip to Venice in 1840 was sold by Sotheby's on July 4, 2007 for £ 3M from a lower estimate of £ 800K, lot 9.
This view displays the white splendor of the Dogana and San Giorgio Maggiore with a storm approaching. The thick mist nearly cancels the tall ships on the basin.
A watercolor 24 x 30 cm displaying the Dogana under the New Moon was sold for £ 960K by Christie's on July 10, 2014, lot 209. The view had been taken by Turner from the steps of his hotel. Its drawing is based on a picture from an earlier visit. The new moon is a reference to a canto about Venice by Byron.
Such an ethereal rendition served as a model for oils on canvas including the Giudecca painted in 1841, sold by Christie's in 2016, and a Dogana closer from that original in 1842.
That watercolor had been provided to his agent Thomas Griffith, possibly to serve as a model for proposing finished watercolors in Venice beside the large format Swiss views offered by him from 1842. Whatever the reason Turner in fact did not paint finished watercolors of Venice.
1841 Heidelberg
2013 SOLD for $ 4.6M by Sotheby's
Turner is the finest illustrator of the European landscapes. In 1840, the engraver Thomas Prior commissions him for a view of Heidelberg. The small town on the Neckar is one of the most enchanting sites, with its bridge, its church, and the ruins of its palace on the hillside.
At 65, Turner is at the top of his art. He expresses in his watercolors the exceptional light and iridescence from poor weather conditions. The landscape is always identifiable and improved with small characters engaged in their daily tasks.
To respond to the order, he sketches Heidelberg when the rain has stopped and the rainbow is just beginning to rise. This large watercolor, 35 x 53 cm, was probably made in 1841. It will be published in 1846 by Prior.
The artwork presents a curiosity that is not a fantasy. Several characters are in medieval costume. Turner remains a witness of his time : in Heidelberg, university students used to dress in that way.
It was sold by Sotheby's for £ 2.04M on June 14, 2001, lot 11 and for $ 4.6M on January 31, 2013, lot 101. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
At 65, Turner is at the top of his art. He expresses in his watercolors the exceptional light and iridescence from poor weather conditions. The landscape is always identifiable and improved with small characters engaged in their daily tasks.
To respond to the order, he sketches Heidelberg when the rain has stopped and the rainbow is just beginning to rise. This large watercolor, 35 x 53 cm, was probably made in 1841. It will be published in 1846 by Prior.
The artwork presents a curiosity that is not a fantasy. Several characters are in medieval costume. Turner remains a witness of his time : in Heidelberg, university students used to dress in that way.
It was sold by Sotheby's for £ 2.04M on June 14, 2001, lot 11 and for $ 4.6M on January 31, 2013, lot 101. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1842 Lucerne and vicinity
Intro
Turner travels a lot, sketching the figures of the landscapes in his notebooks. He wishes to express the sublime while respecting sufficiently the topographic balance so that the location is immediately recognizable. He adds the atmosphere by the colors of the extreme hours of the day highlighted by the lightness and spontaneity of the watercolor.
He is a great innovator of color pictures. He succeeds in applying to oil painting the technique of overlapping wet colors that he had previously developed for watercolor. On his return from his 1840 trip to Venice, he achieves in both techniques the hues halfway between mist and dream for which he is rightly regarded as a precursor of impressionism.
Every summer from 1841 to 1844, Turner tours Switzerland. He has in his pocket the Hand book for travelers by John Murray providing the best recommendations without omitting the legends. He also has his sketchbook where he sketches the features that interest him in the landscape.
He does not realize his watercolors outdoor but when he comes back from the excursion. The pure air of the Swiss mountains excites him. He states that he is an artist of the atmosphere, which means that the ambience appeals to him more than the topography. He is particularly appealed by the lakes with their reflections and mist.
During the first of these four trips, Turner radically changed his business strategy. Previously he aimed at editing his images by printers. He now considers that watercolor can become a high quality product, providing the customer with an illusion of presence that exceeds that of oil painting. The large format allows him to add with his subtle touch and fine line the details that animate the scenery.
He is a great innovator of color pictures. He succeeds in applying to oil painting the technique of overlapping wet colors that he had previously developed for watercolor. On his return from his 1840 trip to Venice, he achieves in both techniques the hues halfway between mist and dream for which he is rightly regarded as a precursor of impressionism.
Every summer from 1841 to 1844, Turner tours Switzerland. He has in his pocket the Hand book for travelers by John Murray providing the best recommendations without omitting the legends. He also has his sketchbook where he sketches the features that interest him in the landscape.
He does not realize his watercolors outdoor but when he comes back from the excursion. The pure air of the Swiss mountains excites him. He states that he is an artist of the atmosphere, which means that the ambience appeals to him more than the topography. He is particularly appealed by the lakes with their reflections and mist.
During the first of these four trips, Turner radically changed his business strategy. Previously he aimed at editing his images by printers. He now considers that watercolor can become a high quality product, providing the customer with an illusion of presence that exceeds that of oil painting. The large format allows him to add with his subtle touch and fine line the details that animate the scenery.
1
The Blue Rigi
2006 SOLD for £ 5.8 M by Christie's
Back again in his workshop after his 1841 trip to Switzerland, Turner prepares fifteen 24 x 30 cm views of Lucerne and its surroundings for demonstrating the light effect to his clients, with the project of copying each sketch in a larger 30 x 45 cm as a single piece. This uniqueness enables him to raise the price of these "finished" watercolors to 80 guineas each, a very high figure at that time.
In the spring of 1842 his commercial agent Thomas Griffith organizes in London the sale of ten artworks of which only four were completed at that time. The other eleven sketches enabled to appreciate in advance the effect of the final work.
Three of the exhibited scenery show the Rigi beyond the Lake of Lucerne at different hours of the day. The mountain is dark before dawn, blue at sunrise and red at twilight. These pictures precede Monet's variations of light on the Poplars and on the Cathedral of Rouen by half a century, although Turner did not conceive them as a series.
Griffith selects four clients for this operation. Three of them are great collectors of modern art. The very young John Ruskin whose reputation as an art critic is already established is the fourth. He will later rightly recognize that this series of watercolors is the best of Turner in his entire career in that technique.
The most ancient collector does not accept the invitation. The most motivated is Munro of Novar who in 1836 had the rare honor of being accepted as Turner's traveling companion. He leaves with three finished watercolors and buys two of the future works. Ruskin also chooses two future works.
The other customer is the whaling tycoon Bicknell who had bought in 1841 the view of the Giudecca. He had a good taste : his oil on canvas was sold for $ 36M by Christie's in 2006.
In the sharing of the Swiss views, Bicknell takes the Blue Rigi, one of the four immediately available watercolors 30 x 45 cm.
This picture of the mountain against the light at dawn is a masterpiece of pre-impressionist art with the clarity and luminosity of a watercolor on paper. Warm and varied colors cancel the drawing, in the admirable blur of a sunrise. In the foreground, sharp tiny characters observe the landscape from the shores of the Lake of Lucerne.
It was sold for £ 5.8M by Christie's on June 5, 2006, lot 53. This stunning drawing is now owned by Tate Britain. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In the spring of 1842 his commercial agent Thomas Griffith organizes in London the sale of ten artworks of which only four were completed at that time. The other eleven sketches enabled to appreciate in advance the effect of the final work.
Three of the exhibited scenery show the Rigi beyond the Lake of Lucerne at different hours of the day. The mountain is dark before dawn, blue at sunrise and red at twilight. These pictures precede Monet's variations of light on the Poplars and on the Cathedral of Rouen by half a century, although Turner did not conceive them as a series.
Griffith selects four clients for this operation. Three of them are great collectors of modern art. The very young John Ruskin whose reputation as an art critic is already established is the fourth. He will later rightly recognize that this series of watercolors is the best of Turner in his entire career in that technique.
The most ancient collector does not accept the invitation. The most motivated is Munro of Novar who in 1836 had the rare honor of being accepted as Turner's traveling companion. He leaves with three finished watercolors and buys two of the future works. Ruskin also chooses two future works.
The other customer is the whaling tycoon Bicknell who had bought in 1841 the view of the Giudecca. He had a good taste : his oil on canvas was sold for $ 36M by Christie's in 2006.
In the sharing of the Swiss views, Bicknell takes the Blue Rigi, one of the four immediately available watercolors 30 x 45 cm.
This picture of the mountain against the light at dawn is a masterpiece of pre-impressionist art with the clarity and luminosity of a watercolor on paper. Warm and varied colors cancel the drawing, in the admirable blur of a sunrise. In the foreground, sharp tiny characters observe the landscape from the shores of the Lake of Lucerne.
It was sold for £ 5.8M by Christie's on June 5, 2006, lot 53. This stunning drawing is now owned by Tate Britain. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
Lake of Lucerne
2018 SOLD for £ 2.05M by Sotheby's
To have a pendant view to his Blue Rigi from the watercolors still to be achieved, Bicknell chooses a view of the Lake of Lucerne from Brunnen. He enjoyed the contrast between the quiet atmosphere of the lake and the brutal force of the rock.
The pendant was sold for £ 2.05M from a lower estimate of £ 1.2M by Sotheby's in London on July 4, 2018, lot 209.
Shortly after supplying the finished view of the Lake of Lucerne to Bicknell, Turner provides its preparatory watercolor to Griffith. The dealer will keep it in his collection. Indeed the sketches were not intended for trade and Turner will retain all the others that will be part of his legacy to Tate Britain.
The 25 x 31 cm ex Griffith watercolor from Lake Lucerne was sold for $ 1.1M by Christie's on January 30, 2018, lot 84..
The pendant was sold for £ 2.05M from a lower estimate of £ 1.2M by Sotheby's in London on July 4, 2018, lot 209.
Shortly after supplying the finished view of the Lake of Lucerne to Bicknell, Turner provides its preparatory watercolor to Griffith. The dealer will keep it in his collection. Indeed the sketches were not intended for trade and Turner will retain all the others that will be part of his legacy to Tate Britain.
The 25 x 31 cm ex Griffith watercolor from Lake Lucerne was sold for $ 1.1M by Christie's on January 30, 2018, lot 84..
#Rubens, #Turner, #VanDyck - our flagship #OldMaster sale on 4 July will offer masterpieces by some of the biggest names in art history. https://t.co/dQdCHbFIkb pic.twitter.com/Rv7rYxdYnX
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) June 14, 2018
3
Lake of Brienz with the setting Moon
2021 SOLD for $ 1.3M by Sotheby's
2025 for sale on July 1 by Christie's
A 24.7 x 36.6 cm watercolor improved by pencil and scratching by Turner of a Swiss lake with its surrounding mountains is matching his style of 1842. It was sold for $ 1.3M from a lower estimate of $ 700K by Sotheby's on January 27, 2021, lot 69, then titled Lake Lucerne at dusk. Indeed that scenery looks similar as the view from Brunnen sold for £ 2.05M in 2018 by Sotheby's.
A specific feature of the picture sold in 2021 is a silvery moon rising over the horizon from within the clouds. Another watercolor in same size of the same exact scenery with the hues caught earlier in the day and a resplendent sun high in the sky is held by the Manchester Art Gallery.
A re-inspection after the Sotheby's sale relocated the scenery to the Lake of Brienz, not far away from Lucerne. In that period where photographic travel was already in infancy, the confusion in the identification confirms that Turner made his watercolors in studio from his outdoor sketches, while his utmost attention to the atmosphere was superseding the reality of the topography. It is supposed that these images had been originally executed in a roll soft-back sketchbook which was later dismantled.
Beside the three Rigi views from the same year, this set of two is an extremely rare example by Turner of a scenery exactly repeated at another time of the day, preceding Monet's series by half of a century.
The Lake of Brienz with the setting Moon is for sale on July 1, 2025 by Christie's, lot 42.
A specific feature of the picture sold in 2021 is a silvery moon rising over the horizon from within the clouds. Another watercolor in same size of the same exact scenery with the hues caught earlier in the day and a resplendent sun high in the sky is held by the Manchester Art Gallery.
A re-inspection after the Sotheby's sale relocated the scenery to the Lake of Brienz, not far away from Lucerne. In that period where photographic travel was already in infancy, the confusion in the identification confirms that Turner made his watercolors in studio from his outdoor sketches, while his utmost attention to the atmosphere was superseding the reality of the topography. It is supposed that these images had been originally executed in a roll soft-back sketchbook which was later dismantled.
Beside the three Rigi views from the same year, this set of two is an extremely rare example by Turner of a scenery exactly repeated at another time of the day, preceding Monet's series by half of a century.
The Lake of Brienz with the setting Moon is for sale on July 1, 2025 by Christie's, lot 42.
Lausanne
2012 SOLD for £ 1.05M by Sotheby's
For a long time, watercolors of Switzerland by Turner are considered as masterpieces, among the most perfect precursors of modern art. Take as an example the auction made by Christie's one hundred years ago, on 5 July 1912.
On that day, the Blue Rigi, 30 x 45 cm, was sold for 2700 guineas. A smaller watercolor, 23 x 33 cm, was sold at nearly the same price : 2500 guineas. Based on a sketch made in 1841, it shows Lausanne from the West. Colors explode within this remarkable landscape. Small farmers are busy with their daily work. The Grand Pont in the background had just been constructed.
This piece was sold by Sotheby's for £ 970K on July 4, 2007, lot 3 and for £ 1.05M on July 4, 2012.
On that day, the Blue Rigi, 30 x 45 cm, was sold for 2700 guineas. A smaller watercolor, 23 x 33 cm, was sold at nearly the same price : 2500 guineas. Based on a sketch made in 1841, it shows Lausanne from the West. Colors explode within this remarkable landscape. Small farmers are busy with their daily work. The Grand Pont in the background had just been constructed.
This piece was sold by Sotheby's for £ 970K on July 4, 2007, lot 3 and for £ 1.05M on July 4, 2012.
1845 Sunrise off Margate
2023 SOLD for £ 1.03M by Christie's
Turner had a rest in May 1845 in Margate in the guesthouse of his companion woman Sophia Booth. He then toured the French side of the Channel to view the cliffs between Ambleteuse and Boulogne.
From that year a sketchbook titled Channel includes sky studies, catching in watercolor some moments, anticipating both the capture of weather moments by Monet and the abstract art.
A watercolor 22.8 x 29.4 cm showing a cloudy sunrise over the sea with the horizon at mid point comes from a dismantled sketchbook that had belonged to Mrs Booth. Similar formats of sketchbooks had been used by Turner in several of his tours of Switzerland in the 1840s. It was sold for £ 1.03M from a lower estimate of £ 600K by Christie's on July 4, 2023, lot 113. A sunset from the same sketchbook was sold for £ 530K by Sotheby's on July 4, 2012, lot 198.
Folkestone is a resort on the Channel, located 50 km south of Margate and 15 km west of Dover. An oil on canvas painted in 1845 showing the seaside at Folkestone was sold for £ 7.4M by Sotheby's on July 5, 1984.
From 1846 Turner went to live with Mrs Booth in Chelsea where he was known as Mr Booth or Admiral Booth.
From that year a sketchbook titled Channel includes sky studies, catching in watercolor some moments, anticipating both the capture of weather moments by Monet and the abstract art.
A watercolor 22.8 x 29.4 cm showing a cloudy sunrise over the sea with the horizon at mid point comes from a dismantled sketchbook that had belonged to Mrs Booth. Similar formats of sketchbooks had been used by Turner in several of his tours of Switzerland in the 1840s. It was sold for £ 1.03M from a lower estimate of £ 600K by Christie's on July 4, 2023, lot 113. A sunset from the same sketchbook was sold for £ 530K by Sotheby's on July 4, 2012, lot 198.
Folkestone is a resort on the Channel, located 50 km south of Margate and 15 km west of Dover. An oil on canvas painted in 1845 showing the seaside at Folkestone was sold for £ 7.4M by Sotheby's on July 5, 1984.
From 1846 Turner went to live with Mrs Booth in Chelsea where he was known as Mr Booth or Admiral Booth.
1848 Lungernsee
2022 SOLD for $ 4.6M by Christie's
After 1844 Turner suspends his mountain trips. He reuses his sketches around 1848 in flamboyant colors over a loose drawing that make him one of the best precursors of modern art.
A view of the twilight on the Lungernsee painted ca 1848 was sold for £ 3.6M by Sotheby's on July 4, 2007, lot 4, and for $ 4.6M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 56.
It is painted in watercolor over dipped pencil with stopping out heightened with watercolor and with touches of gum arabic, The 38 x 56 cm wove paper is watermarked J. Whatman 1846.
The Wellhorn is snow covered in the distance. The cloudy sky is centered by a moon crescent which is also reflecting through the mist in the lake. While a natural lake, the water level of the Lungernsee had been lowered by 6 m by engineering in 1836. Cattle are walking on that new drainage.
Unknown in Turner's lifetime, this view had long been mistaken for an Italian lake. In 2001 an expert reconciled it with a couple of line drawings of the Lungern See in Turner's 1844 Lucerne to Thun sketchbook.
A view of the twilight on the Lungernsee painted ca 1848 was sold for £ 3.6M by Sotheby's on July 4, 2007, lot 4, and for $ 4.6M by Christie's on November 9, 2022, lot 56.
It is painted in watercolor over dipped pencil with stopping out heightened with watercolor and with touches of gum arabic, The 38 x 56 cm wove paper is watermarked J. Whatman 1846.
The Wellhorn is snow covered in the distance. The cloudy sky is centered by a moon crescent which is also reflecting through the mist in the lake. While a natural lake, the water level of the Lungernsee had been lowered by 6 m by engineering in 1836. Cattle are walking on that new drainage.
Unknown in Turner's lifetime, this view had long been mistaken for an Italian lake. In 2001 an expert reconciled it with a couple of line drawings of the Lungern See in Turner's 1844 Lucerne to Thun sketchbook.
