Turner at Jumieges, part #1

This is the first part of an exploration of Jumieges following in Turner’s footsteps. Jumieges lies on the river Seine not far downstream of Rouen. Turner’s principal subject there is a view of the abbey from the river that was published as an engraving in 1834. It has occasioned the interest of a number of scholars over the years, but none has, I think, quite fully enough acknowledged how extraordinary a composition it is.

This article has been spurred by my recent immersion in the set of sixty-one engravings published to illustrate Turner’s Annual Tour on the rivers Loire and Seine in 1833-35. Jumieges appeared in the second volume of three, published in 1834.

The engraving was based on a watercolour in the Turner Bequest at the Tate. It is one of many dozens from which the engraved subjects were selected. Turner made several tours to France and made hundreds of pencil sketches. One of my particular interests is the relationship [or oftentimes the lack of it] between the pencil sketches have and the watercolours. It has been generally presumed that the watercolours were based on the pencil sketches, but here at Jumieges and elsewhere it appears that this is not the case.

My drift through the engravings has been greatly facilitated by Ian Warrell’s two books of Turner on the Loire (Tate, 1997) and Turner on the Seine (Tate, 1999). These remain by far the most detailed and systematic consideration of the material, and still the standard reference for the whole subject area. I do have to say that the deeper I find myself drawn into individual sites, the more impressive does Warrell’s coverage appear to be. Occasionally, however, especially with regard to the relationship of pencil sketches and watercolours, I do think that there might be something more to be said.

Over the years, Turner’s French river sites have provided me with many enjoyable excursions. The first occurred in 1988 when our summer holidays began to be planned around Turnering opportunities. Periodically, Mrs H and our children would be extracted from the delights of Eurocamping and be made to traipse around in the baking heat to stand on the exact same vantage points as the great artist. Our first French Rivers adventure was to St Catherine’s Hill at Rouen. I thought there could be no finer activity on earth. I am not sure my family ever fully shared my enthusiasm.

Many such excursions have followed, mostly taken alone, or with complaining accomplices. One was in 2016 when Mrs H was persuaded onto a tour of the Seine and Normandy with the doubled pleasure of adding Cotman’s footsteps to those of Turner. We pitched the caravan in a deeply wooded campsite at Jumieges. It was unnervingly dark and wet, at least on the day we arrived. But in daylight, and the second day was scintillating, it was a short walk down to the village and abbey, except that the route passed a rather beautiful hotel/ restaurant which made Mrs H wonder whether our own accommodation was altogether optimal. That aside we did manage to explore the site and its surroundings pretty thoroughly and I do feel a sufficient geographical sense of the site, as well having some photographic material of my own, to equip me to make a start here on the French Rivers subjects.

Every new subject spawns ideas for a trip, none as yet booked. My current scheme is to go by bicycle along the river Seine from Le Havre. Needless to say Mrs H has already recused herself. A couple of years ago I treated myself to a ‘Gazelle’ electric bicycle and the name exemplifies the fancied alacrity of my progress. I dream of many adventures, even if none quite stretch to the Camino di Santiago as the photograph above might imply. Still, if a Turner trip along the Seine can be organised, further reports of sites may appear in due course. At my stage of life, however, events have an all-too-frequent habit of interfering with intentions. For the time being, however, I can concentrate on Jumieges and through that look towards future expeditions.