J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

The four rough sketches on this page are likely to have been made around Glen Croe to the west of Loch Long, and show views along the glen and of the surrounding mountains. They have the same topographical character and graphic style as a sketch inscribed ‘Rest’ on folio 4 (D26625) (which shows the view down Glen Croe from Rest and be thankful) and a similar sketch in the Stirling and the West sketchbook (Tate D26551; Turner Bequest CCLXX 58a). The second sketch down is the clearest of the drawings. It shows a view along a valley or glen with mountains either side as seen from a high point. This is presumably the view down the glen from Rest and be thankful. The top sketch also seems to show part of the glen with mountains at the end. This may be the view west back up to Rest and be thankful from Glen Croe, with Beinn an Lochain.

The third sketch down is inscribed ‘Arr’. As David Wallace-Hadrill has suggested, this is likely to stand for Arrochar near the head of Loch Long,1 but whether this is a sketch looking towards Arrochar, or made from there, is uncertain. Turner seems to have reached Arrochar after scaling Ben Arthur, and from there to have embarked on a steamboat heading for the Clyde. Folio 8 verso of the present sketchbook (D26634) and two pages in the Stirling and the West sketchbook contain sketches that look back towards the summit of Ben Arthur from Arrochar (Tate D26557–D26558; Turner Bequest CCLXX 61a–62).

At the bottom of the page is a sketch made with the book inverted. It shows a distant mountain with other hills in the foreground. Although it is fairly slight, the outline of the mountain is similar to several sketches by Turner of Ben Lomond, as seen from around Glen Croe and Ben Arthur (e.g. Tate D26553; Turner Bequest CCLXX 59a).