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

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

Joseph Mallord William Turner Gylen Castle from the South with the Isle of Mull; and Ardtornish 1831

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Gylen Castle from the South with the Isle of Mull; and Ardtornish’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 70 Recto:
Gylen Castle from the South with the Isle of Mull; and Ardtornish 1831
D26878
Turner Bequest CCLXXIII 70
Pencil on white wove paper, 116 x 186 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘ardornish’ top right, ‘mull’ centre
Inscribed in blue ink by John Ruskin ‘70’ top left running vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLXXIII 70’ top right running vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The larger sketch on this page shows a view from the promontory at the south-east of the island of Kerrera, looking north across the bay of Port a’ Chroinn to Gylen Castle, and along the south coast of Kerrera to the Isle of ‘Mull’ in the distance. The foreground is taken up with rocks and crags, including two spike-shaped rocks at the left which are seen again on folio 71 verso (D26881). For a full list of sketches of Gylen Castle see folio 73 verso (D26885).
At the top right of the page is a rough sketch with an inscription referring to Ardtornish, a hamlet and castle in Morvern by the Sound of Mull. The sketch is difficult to decipher, but probably depicts the entrance to Loch Aline from the Sound of Mull to the south. Ardtornish Point and Castle would therefore be to the right of the sketch. There is a clearer sketch of Ardtornish on folio 61 (D26860).

Thomas Ardill
February 2010

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Gylen Castle from the South with the Isle of Mull; and Ardtornish 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 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-gylen-castle-from-the-south-with-the-isle-of-mull-and-r1135235, accessed 20 April 2024.