Joseph Mallord William Turner

Gylen Castle, Kerrera; and Glencoe

1831

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In Tate Britain

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Staffa Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 186 × 116 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D26887
Turner Bequest CCLXXIII 74 a

Catalogue entry

The two sketches on this page have been identified as Gylen Castle on the island of Kerrera, and a view of Glencoe.1 The faint sketch of Gylen Castle shows a view from the north-east with the Firth of Lorn and the Isle of Mull beyond. There is a similar, but more detailed view on folio 74 (D26886), and views of the castle from various angles on folios 63 verso–75 verso (D26865–D26889).
At the top right of the page is a boxed-off sketch inscribed ‘Glenco’. This shows a view east up the glen on the approach to Achtriochtan, with the River Coe in the foreground and the shoulder of Bidean nam Bian at the right. There is a similar view on folio 26 verso (D26792). The sketch is out of sequence with the rest of the Glencoe sketches (see folio 2; D26750), although that is not unusual in this sketchbook, where many of the subjects covered are mixed up with each other.

Thomas Ardill
April 2010

1
Wallace-Hadrill and Carolan 1991, p.29.

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