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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1831 > Fort Augustus Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Sketches of ?Loch Eil and Loch Lochy 1831

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sketches of ?Loch Eil and Loch Lochy’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 8 Verso:
Sketches of ?Loch Eil and Loch Lochy 1831
D26977
Turner Bequest CCLXXVI 8a
Pencil on off-white laid writing paper, 150 x 184 mm irregular
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ?‘Loch Eil Canal’ top, ‘w’ bottom-centre left
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The sketch at the top of this page carries an inscription that could be read as ‘Loch Eil canal’, which could be a reference to the entrance to the Caledonian Canal at Corpach on Loch Eil. However, neither this nor the second sketch on the page, drawn beneath with the sketchbook inverted, can be easily matched to this view. Although Turner did not travel far up Loch Eil, he did cross the eastern end to reach Corpach from Loch Linnhe. Sketches on folio 7 verso and 9 verso (D26975, D26979) may also be inscribed Loch Eil.
The second sketch, inscribed ‘w’, makes a decent match for the western shore of Loch Linnhe with (from left to right) the peaks of Meall Coire Lochan, Meall na Teanga and Meall Dubh. There are views of Loch Lochy on folios 6–7 (D26972–D26974).

Thomas Ardill
April 2010

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Sketches of ?Loch Eil and Loch Lochy 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-sketches-of-loch-eil-and-loch-lochy-r1135342, accessed 16 April 2024.