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Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851)
England, 1833
Oil on canvas
88 x 120 cm
Inv. no. 2362
This painting, showing the small village of Quillebeuf on the Seine estuary, is part of a series exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1833.
The artist uses the flight of a flock of seagulls spiralling upwards into the sky as the central element in the composition’s controlled balance.
Taking naturalistic observation as his starting point and maintaining the local references, Turner produced an emotive exercise in light and colour, showing the way towards a new artistic language that the Impressionists would later understand and assimilate.
The painting reveals the trend towards the progressive elimination of forms, which become mere thematic pretexts. By doing this, Turner transcends the composition’s physical space, opting instead to transform it into a setting where impressions are heightened.
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