Mill near the Grand Chartreuse Possibly 1816

J.M.W. Turner made "Mill near the Grand Chartreuse" using etching, likely in the early 1800s. During this time, landscape art was evolving. It became a medium through which artists explored ideas about nature and the sublime, and the relationship between the individual and the natural world. Turner’s print shows a rugged, forested landscape with a mill nestled near imposing rocks and a distant bridge. Here the mill is an emblem of human presence dwarfed by the grandeur of nature. Turner does not present an idealized or pastoral scene, but rather a raw, almost overwhelming, vista. Turner was deeply interested in capturing the emotional and atmospheric effects of nature. His art reflects a Romantic sensibility which valued subjective experience and the power of nature to inspire awe and introspection. In this print, the artist asks us to consider the industrial presence in the natural world.