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 Urquhart Castle 1831

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sketches of Urquhart Castle’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 21 Recto:
Sketches of Urquhart Castle 1831
D27002
Turner Bequest CCLXXVI 21
Pencil on off-white laid writing paper, 150 x 180 mm irregular
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘21’ bottom right descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLXXVI 21’ bottom left descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
These sketches of Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness were made as the steamboat on which Turner was travelling drew parallel with the ruins. Across the page are five studies of the castle ruins, several of which overlap slightly. The two sketches at the top are from close by to the south-east and show the castle’s tower house. Beneath is a view of the tower house from the east. Overlapping at the left is a sketch, drawn with the book turned to the right, of the tower house from the north. To the right is another view of the castle, probably drawn with the sketchbook inverted.
At the left of the page, drawn with the page turned to the right, is a sketch of Urquhart Bay with the castle at the far left.
For further sketches of the castle see folio 19 (D26998).

Thomas Ardill
April 2010

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Sketches of Urquhart Castle 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-urquhart-castle-r1135367, accessed 25 April 2024.