FDA-D.514-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-D.514-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
St Goar looking towards St Goarhausen, Germany
Burg Katz on the Rhine, Germany [verso]
Whiteley
Burg Katz on the Rhine, Germany [verso]
Whiteley
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
assigned by cataloguer
collection
assigned by cataloguer
collection
Comments
On his first trip to Germany in 1817, Turner spent ten days exploring the dramatic scenery of the middle Rhine, between Koblenz and Mainz, where the river passes through steep gorges with castles clinging to the rocks high above. This sheet depicting the towns of Saint Goar, on the West bank, looking across to Saint Goarshausen was made on the very last of Turner's continental journeys, in 1844. Turner had travelled through Germany each year since 1841; the main goal of his journeys was Switzerland, but he continued to sketch the Rhineland scenery en route. Working in his soft-bound 'roll sketchbooks', from which this sheet was presumabaly removed, he produced drawings which have been called 'unequalled in their interest and beauty' (C. Powell, Turner in Germany, 1995, p.73). Although the watercolour washes added to the pencil sketleton are minimal in the extreme, they give a perfect sense of space, with even a suggestion of mist rising off the gleaming river below. On the verso of the sheet is a hurried sketch on a prepared bodycolour ground of the castle at 'Katz', Neukatzenelnbogen, just up river in the direction of the Lorelei rock, the most famous landmark on this stretch of the Rhine.
A late drawing by Turner made during the tour of the Rhine in the early 1840's. Executed with minimal transparent washes over pencil, it captures the early morning atmosphere with a suggestion of mist rising off the gleaming river below.
Another watercolour view by Turner is on the verso of this sheet of paper.
A late drawing by Turner made during the tour of the Rhine in the early 1840's. Executed with minimal transparent washes over pencil, it captures the early morning atmosphere with a suggestion of mist rising off the gleaming river below.
Another watercolour view by Turner is on the verso of this sheet of paper.
Other number
MFW 38
Description
Dimensions
height (actual size): 177mm
width (actual size): 235mm
width (actual size): 235mm
Inscription
Inscribed in pencil, on verso: 'Cox [crosssed through] / Katz'
Materials & techniques note
Pencil and watercolour; on the verso in pencil and watercolour on paper prepared with grey wash
Production
Person
Date
c.1844
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Collection of Leonard M.E. Dent; with Spink; from whom purchased by Martin Whiteley on 15 May 1960; by whom bequeathed to Eton College
Exhibited: 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 6 to 24 January 2003, catalogue number 54; 'Views of Windsor and Eton by Paul Sandby', Eton College, c.2008-09; ‘Normandie: L’Atelier en plein Air’, Musee Jacquemart-Andre, Paris, 18 March - 25 July 2016; 'Humphrey Ocean: Fresh as Paint', The Verey Gallery, Eton College, 9 June to 30 October 2022, catalogue number 31
Exhibited: 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s, London, 6 to 24 January 2003, catalogue number 54; 'Views of Windsor and Eton by Paul Sandby', Eton College, c.2008-09; ‘Normandie: L’Atelier en plein Air’, Musee Jacquemart-Andre, Paris, 18 March - 25 July 2016; 'Humphrey Ocean: Fresh as Paint', The Verey Gallery, Eton College, 9 June to 30 October 2022, catalogue number 31
Previous ownership
References
• Ryan, H., Hidden Treasures, W.S. Fine Art exhibition catalogue, 2010 (p. 44, no. 17)
• Wilcox, T., A Genius for Watercolour; Watercolours from the Eton College Collection, Christie's exhibition catalogue, London, 2003 (p. 63, no. 54)
• Powell, C., Turner in Germany, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London, 1995 (p. 90, under no. 7 (also p. 96, no. 12))
• Powell, C., Turner's Rivers of Europe: The Rhine, Meuse and Mosel, Tate Gallery, London, 1991 (p. 101, no. 7)
• Wilton, A., The Life and Works of J.M.W. Turner, London and Fribourg, 1979 (illustrated) (pp. 458-461, no. 1342)
• Wilcox, T., A Genius for Watercolour; Watercolours from the Eton College Collection, Christie's exhibition catalogue, London, 2003 (p. 63, no. 54)
• Powell, C., Turner in Germany, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London, 1995 (p. 90, under no. 7 (also p. 96, no. 12))
• Powell, C., Turner's Rivers of Europe: The Rhine, Meuse and Mosel, Tate Gallery, London, 1991 (p. 101, no. 7)
• Wilton, A., The Life and Works of J.M.W. Turner, London and Fribourg, 1979 (illustrated) (pp. 458-461, no. 1342)
