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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Scotland 1818-20 > Bass Rock and Edinburgh Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Bass Rock 1818

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Bass Rock’ 1818
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 18 Recto:
Bass Rock 1818
D13355
Turner Bequest CLXV 18
Pencil on white laid paper, 99 x 159 mm
Stamped in black ‘CLXV 18’ top right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This sketch probably shows the Bass Rock as seen from the east with its natural, if dangerous, harbour to the south. Here Turner placed more emphasis on the geological features of the subject than in other versions, showing the vertical striations on the sides of the rock and the grassy patch at the top that Walter Scott mentions in his Provincial Antiquities description.1 There are numerous sketches of the Bass Rock from various angles in this sketchbook.
1
Provincial Antiquities and Picturesque Scenery of Scotland with descriptions by Sir Walter Scott, Bart., Vol.II, London and Edinburgh, 1826, p.[181].
Verso:
Blank

Thomas Ardill
October 2007

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Bass Rock 1818 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, October 2007, 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-bass-rock-r1131897, accessed 19 April 2024.