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

After making a series of studies of Lincluden Collegiate Church earlier in the sketchbook (see folio 53 verso; D25866), Turner turned to the back of the book where he had already washed several pages with grey watercolour to make more studies: folios 89 verso, 90 verso, 91 verso and 92 verso (D25922, D25924, D25926, D25928). Unlike the previous studies, these are more concerned with composition and with effects of light and shade than they are with architectural details. Turner used the sharp point and dull edge of his pencil as well as the white of the paper, revealed by scratching out the wash, to produce varied tones and sharper contrasts.

The sketch on the present page, made with the book inverted, shows Lincluden Church from the banks of the Cluden Water to the north-west. The most prominent part of the building is the ruined tower at its north end (an attached building which is not part of the church itself), but the three remaining arches of the nave can also be seen through the trees to the right.

Turner inscribed the sketch ‘nr Dumfries’.