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

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

Joseph Mallord William Turner Fort George from Rosemarkie Bay 1831

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Fort George from Rosemarkie Bay’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 32 Recto:
Fort George from Rosemarkie Bay 1831
D27092
Turner Bequest CCLXXVII 32
Pencil on off-white wove paper, 104 x 163 mm
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘32’ bottom left descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLXXVII 32’ bottom left descending
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
David Wallace-Hadrill’s first suggestion that this sketch depicts a view up the Cromarty Firth towards Cromarty, with North Sutor in the distance and Cromarty lighthouse at the left,1 can be ruled out by the fact that the lighthouse was not built until 1846. However, his second suggestion of Fort George is more likely.2 Therefore this may be a view from Rosemarkie, with the bay to the north of Chanonry Point in the foreground and Fort George in the distance at the left. There is a similar view on the reverse of this page (folio 32 verso; D27093), though from above the village of Rosemarkie. At the top right of the page is a sketch of houses, probably at Rosemarkie.

Thomas Ardill
April 2010

1
David Wallace-Hadrill and Janet Carolan, ‘Sketchbook CCLXXVII Inverness’, [circa 1991], Tate catalogue files, [unpaginated].
2
David Wallace-Hadrill and Janet Carolan, ‘CCLXXVII Inverness Checklist’, [circa 1991], Tate catalogue files, [unpaginated].

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Fort George from Rosemarkie Bay 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-fort-george-from-rosemarkie-bay-r1135458, accessed 26 April 2024.