Walter Fawkes, Farnley Hall, Yorkshire;
By descent to F.H. Hawkes;
Agnew's, London (by 1912);
Scott and Fowles, New York (by 1914); 
Monnell, U.S.A, (by 1937);
Brian Pilkington, his sale Sotheby's London, 21st November 1984, lot 117;
Leger Galleries, London;
Dr. Marc Fitch, The Fitch Collection, London (by 1988);
Polly Peck International, PLC, London;
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's New York, 1st November 1995, lot 38;
with Richard Green Ltd

London, Grosvenor Place, Collection of Watercolour Drawings in the Possession of Walter Fawkes Esq.,  1819, no. 29;
Leeds, Music Hall, Leeds Public Exhibition in Aid of the Mechanics Institute, 1839, no. 72;
London, Royal Academy, Winter Exhibition, 1886, no. 38;
London, Lawrie & Co., The Farnley Hall Collection of Pictures and Drawings by JMW Turner R.A., 1902, no. 36;
London, Royal Academy, Winter Exhibition, 1906, no. 2092;
London, Agnew's, Watercolour Drawings by JMW  Turner, R.A. 1913, no. 5;
York, York City Art Gallery, Turner in Yorkshire, 1980, no. 89;
London, Tate Gallery, 1977-82, on loan;
London, Leger Galleries, The Fitch Collection, a Record of the major English Watercolours and Drawings Collected by Dr. Marc Fitch, 1988, no. 38

Sir Walter Armstrong, Turner, 1902, p. 243;
A.J. Finberg, 'Turner's Watercolour at Farnley Hall',  The Studio,1912, no. 17., pl. 1;
Andrew Wilton, Turner in the British Museum, 1975, p. 41., no. 19;
John Russell and Andrew Wilton,  Turner in Switzerland, 1976, p. 135, no. 19;
Andrew Wilton, JMW Turner: His Art and Life,  1979, p. 343;
Richard Green, Turner in Yorkshire, 1980, p. 58;
Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of JMW Turner,  1984, p. 35. no. 46;
David Hill,  Turner in the Alps: The Journey through France & Switzerland in 1802, 1992, pp. 48-49

Engraved:
J.M.W. Turner, etching and Charles Turner, engraving, for Turner's Liber Studiorum, frontispiece, 10 June 1808

This report has been prepared 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: This watercolour is supported by a sheet of wove Whatman paper showing a watermark at the foot to the left. The work has been overmounted, this is demonstrated by a rectangle of slight staining, approximately 1 cm in from the edges, where the light has struck the sheet. Otherwise it is in a good condition. Medium: The pigments are bright, though, because the work has been framed and glazed, the more delicate tints have faded. 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 tranquil scene a young shepherdess rests upon a rock, the mid day sun beats down from high above and goats peacefully graze and water nearby. On t𒉰his particularly inviting and peaceful spot on a bend of the Arve river, at the entrance to the Alps, this pastoral idyll drawn in or soon after 1811, insinuates nothing of the recent ravages of war which had swept through the Swiss Alps. The perfect form of the bridge and the outline of the town in the middle distance represent an undisturbed timelessness to this location.  

Turner made a number of studies of this area in the Savoy, once known as the symbolic 'gateway' to the Alps, which demonstrate not only his delight in the views, but also suggest its importance to him[i]. What🐈 separates this watercolour from many of the other representations of this location is the use of brightly coloured pigments. Here the more subdued palate of earlier oils, watercolours and sketches are replaced by the brilliant effect of a baking hot sun on stone in the near foreground, the startling white of the town in the middle distance shimmering in the heat and the vivid blue of the mountains beyond.

However, it is the dozing goattess in the near foreground which transfixes our gaze. Turner's admiration for Old Master paintings is well documented and here, the distinctive pose of the sheherdess recalls contemplative drovers in the idyllic pastoral landscapes of 17^th Century Dutch artists such as Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691). Later also appearing in the picturesque landscapes of Thomas Gainsborough, a reclining drover positioned in the near foreground was an intentional aesthetic device to drawღ the viewer into the landscape through a process of sympathetic identification.[iii] This is surely also Turner's intention in this scene. Relaxing beside a riverbank was something Turner knew all about as a keen fisherman in his spare time. By 1811 the approximate date of this watercolour he had also just moved to Twickenham to indu﷽lge his passion for a rural, riverside existence, and to retreat from the hustle and bustle of central London.

Purchased by Turner's devoted patron Walter Fawkes this work was displayed at the celebrated exhibition of 1819 at Fawkes' London home, 45 Grosvenor Place. One visitor admiringly exclaimed of Turner's wa🔥tercolours; 'by the magic of his pencil we are brought to regions of such bold and romantic magnificence and introduced to effects of such rare and awful grandeur that criticism is baffled.'[ii]

Indeed, the 'magic' of Turner's pencil can be found in the delightful arrangement of this scene. Not an exact topographical record but an idyllic pictorial representation of Alpine scenery, a landscape both familiar and inviting. This watercolour demonstrates a turning point in Turner's confidence as an artist and his ability to liberate his works from reliance upon slavish topographical imitation towards a new manner of representation where value is based upon colour and poetic possibilities. Turner's gradual revolution in the approach to watercolour landscape painting was gaining recognition, one journalist noting at the time that T꧅urner heralded the start of a new 'epoch in the whole history of art.'[iv]

 

[i] Turner made numerous studies of Bonneville during his first visit in 1802. Including; 'St Gothard and Mont Blanc Sketchbook' (TB LXXXV 7), p.7 (Fig. 2., p.14 of this catalogue), the 'France, Savoy, Piedmont sketchbook,' and studies in the 'Savoy Piedmont' Sketchbook  (TBLXXIII, 46, 46a, 47,48, and no. 29). Turner exhibited two oil paintings of Bonneville at the Royal Academy in 1803, one of which shares the composition of this watercolour, entitled Bonneville, Savoy with Mont Blanc, no.24 (Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas). There is also the watercolour of Bonneville, dated c. 1808-9 (Salting Bequest, British Museum). In 1812 Turner returned to the Bonneville subject yet again exhibiting A View of the Castle of St Michael near Bonneville, Savoy (previously John G Johnson Collection, Philadelphia) at the Royal Academy, no.149. The subject was also later included in Turner's Liber Studiorum, published in 1819 (see sepia study TB✤ CXVIII-J).

 

[ii] Richard Green, lit.op.cit, 1980, p.55.

 

[iii] Ann Bermingham, Landscape and Ideology, 1986, p. 46

 

[iv] Magazine of the Fine Arts, 1822, as quoted in Ian Warrell, Turner The Great Watercolours, 2000, p. 45.