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 The Falls of Foyers 1831

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Falls of Foyers’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 41 Recto:
The Falls of Foyers 1831
D27035
Turner Bequest CCLXXVI 41
Pencil on off-white laid writing paper, 183 x 150 mm irregular
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘Fall’ lower centre-right
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘41’ top right
Stamped in black ‘CCLXXVI 41’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
It is not certain whether this view of the Falls of Foyers continues from folio 40 verso (D27035) or is a separate sketch. While it appears at first glance as if the two pages contain a single sketch, the direction in which the steam is flowing on the present page is wrong for a view of the Upper Falls of Foyers from the north. Turner has either compressed a 180-degree panoramic view into a much narrower space, or this is a separate sketch of the view in the opposite direction, showing the stream flowing towards the Lower Fall of Foyer. The water is labelled ‘Fall’ although no waterfall appears to be shown.
A full list of Turner’s sketches of the Falls is on folio 40 verso.

Thomas Ardill
April 2010

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘The Falls of Foyers 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-the-falls-of-foyers-r1135400, accessed 19 September 2024.