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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1834 > Stirling and Edinburgh Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Craignethan Castle, Lanarkshire from below to the South-East, and Nethan Gorge 1834

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Craignethan Castle, Lanarkshire from below to the South-East, and Nethan Gorge’ 1834
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 18 Verso:
Craignethan Castle, Lanarkshire from below to the South-East, and Nethan Gorge 1834
D26294
Turner Bequest CCLXIX 18a
Pencil on off-white wove paper, 113 x 190 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘M[...] House’ and ‘Hill’ lower centre right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner climbed around to the edge of the bluff overlooking the Nethan Gorge for this view of Craignethan Castle from the south-east and the separate sketch beneath of the view along the gorge to the north. Looking up towards the castle the tower house stands behind the south-east tower and the land falls rapidly away to the River Nethan. The other side of the gorge can be seen at the right of the page where the sketch continues slightly onto folio 19 (D26595). There is a comparable view from further away to the south on folio 19 verso (D26296) and Turner made a sketch from the north-east side of the tower house on folio 19.
Slightly overlapping at the bottom of the page is a separate sketch of the view along the Nethan Gorge to the north. Turner has labelled two parts of the sketch ?‘Mon house’ and ‘hill’. The meaning of these inscriptions has unfortunately not been determined.
For further information about Turner’s visit to Craignethan Castle, see folio 14 verso (D26286).

Thomas Ardill
October 2010

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Craignethan Castle, Lanarkshire from below to the South-East, and Nethan Gorge 1834 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, October 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-craignethan-castle-lanarkshire-from-below-to-the-south-east-r1136224, accessed 26 April 2024.