Oil paint on canvas
France
Tate Collection
Works with images
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Turner Bequest
Oil paintings
Collection
Turner owned by Tate
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-mallord-william-turner-558" aria-label="More by Joseph Mallord William Turner" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Joseph Mallord William Turner</a>
Harbour Brest Quayside and Château
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
adults
architecture
boat - non-specific
Brest - non-specific
castle
cities, towns, villages (non-UK)
countries and continents
crowd
dock
figure
France
groups
harbour
military
people
places
seascapes and coasts
society
sunshine
townscapes / man-made features
transport: water
waterfront
weather
<p>This was once thought to be a view of Italy, perhaps the garden of a Roman villa. It is now known to be based on a small jotting in a sketchbook Turner used while travelling through northern France.</p><p>In place of the towers of Rouen cathedral, Turner has introduced a patch of watery sunlight that contrasts with the foreground shadows. The reclining figures are taken directly from the sketchbook drawing. However, they also recall the pastoral scenes of Antoine Watteau, an eighteenth-century artist whose work particularly interested Turner in the 1820s and 1830s.</p><p><em>Gallery label, February 2010</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
8 July 2002 – 21 May 2007
2007-05-21
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2002-07-08
Turner and Tourism in Europe
Collection based display
1 June 2007 – 15 March 2009
2009-03-15
1 June 2007
2007-06-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2007-06-01
Interrupted Visions: Oil Sketches 1820s-1840s
Collection based display
20 March 2009 – 27 July 2009
2009-07-27
20 March 2009
2009-03-20
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2009-03-20
Turner's Later Oil Sketches and Unfinished Works
Collection based display
5 August 2009 – 19 July 2010
2010-07-19
5 August 2009 – 19 July 2010
2010-07-19
2009-08-05
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2009-08-05
Turner Abroad
Collection based display
1 April 2011 – 31 August 2011
2011-08-31
1 April 2011 – 31 August 2011
2011-08-31
2011-04-01
Musée des Beaux-Arts (Quimper, France)
2011-04-01
Terre et mer, de Corot a Monet, la decouverte de la bretagne par les paysagistes au XIX siecle
Loan-out
8 February 2013 – 13 April 2014
2014-04-13
8 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-08
Art Gallery of South Australia (Adelaide, Australia)
http://www.artgallery.sa.gov.au
4 June 2013 – 8 September 2013
2013-09-08
2013-06-04
National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australia)
2013-02-08
J.M.W. Turner: Makings of a Master
Loan-out
26 March 2015 – 27 May 2020
2020-05-27
27 November 2019 – 27 May 2020
2020-05-27
2019-11-27
Hong Kong Museum of Art (Hong Kong, China)
2015-03-26
British Landscape
Tate partnerships & programmes
22 February 2017 – 14 May 2017
2017-05-14
22 February 2017 – 14 May 2017
2017-05-14
2017-02-22
Frick Collection (New York, USA)
http://www.frick.org
2017-02-22
Turner’s Modern and Ancient Ports: Passages through Time
Loan-out
28 October 2023 – 10 March 2024
2024-03-10
28 October 2023 – 10 March 2024
2024-03-10
2023-10-28
Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus (Munich, Germany)
2023-10-28
Turner at Lenbachhaus Munich
Loan-out
The Harbour of Brest: The Quayside and Château
support: 1727 × 2235 mm
frame: 1877 × 2400 × 83 mm
Accepted by the nation as part of the <a href="/search?gid=999999781" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Turner Bequest</a> 1856
<p>This was once thought to be a view of Italy, perhaps the garden of a Roman villa.  It is now known to be based on a small jotting in a sketchbook Turner used while travelling through northern France.
<br/>
<br/>In place of the towers of Rouen cathedral, Turner has introduced a patch of watery sunlight that contrasts with the foreground shadows.  The reclining figures are taken directly from the sketchbook drawing.  However, they also recall the pastoral scenes of Antoine Watteau, an eighteenth-century artist whose work particularly interested Turner in the 1820s and 1830s.
<br/></p>

Display caption
2010-02-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>527. </b>[<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-the-harbour-of-brest-the-quayside-and-chateau-n05514" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05514</span></a>]<b> Harbour with Town and Fortress</b> <i>c.</i>
1830?</p>
<p>THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON (5514)</p>
<p>Canvas, 68 × 88 (172·5 × 223·5)</p>
<p><b>Coll.</b> Turner Bequest 1856 (? 253, 1 unidentified 7'4 1/2" × 5'8 1/2"); transferred to the Tate Gallery 1947.</p>
<p><b>Exh.</b> Edinburgh 1968 (20).</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> Davies 1946, p. 164; Wilton 1979, p. 224.</p>
<p>This large unfinished harbour scene seems to continue the theme of <i>Harbour of Dieppe (Changement de Domicile)</i> and <i>Cologne, the Arrival of a Packet Boat. Evening</i>, exhibited in 1825 and 1826 respectively (Nos. 231 and 232). The similarity to these works, which are of exactly the same size, is an argument for dating the Tate Gallery picture rather earlier than has hitherto been thought likely, <i>c.</i> 1830 rather than the later 1830s.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, <i>The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner</i>, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-07-21T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults architecture boat - non-specific Brest - non-specific castle cities, towns, villages (non-UK) countries and continents crowd dock figure France groups harbour military people places seascapes and coasts society sunshine townscapes / man-made features transport: water waterfront weather