Joseph Mallord William Turner R.A. 1775-1851

Lady Catherine Fortesque;
with Richard Green Ltd

This report has been prepared by: JANE McAUSLAND London office: Flat 3, 41 Lexington Street, Soho, London W1F 9AJ Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works Accredited member of the Institute of Paper Conservation Jane McAusland Limited trading as Jane McAusland FIIC. Support: At present, this watercolour on a wove paper is fully adhered to a card. This operation was carried out some time ago. Staining from a mount shows at the edges up to .75 cm in places. Other than this the paper is in good order. Medium: The colours are good, though typically faded in the more delicate tints as this work has been exposed to light in a glazed frame. Note: This work was viewed outside studio conditions.
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The view is taken at dusk looking west with the sun still bathing the distant mountains, the moon rising out of clouds. The steep cliffs dropping into the water on the left, a characteristic of Lake Lucerne, are in shadow with just the peaks above them catching the last rays of sun. In the foreground to the left, drawn by Turner in brief angular strokes, is a jetty with five of the flat bottom boats which were numerous along the shore. The lake near the viewpoint is all in shadow with blue and green washes interrupted just by the moon's reflections.

Until recently not identified, it would appear most likely that this is drawn from or near Brünnen, a spot favoured by Turner not least because it had good views in both directions of Lake Lucerne. If on the opposite bank to Brünnen, then the viewpoint may be at a small inn called Treib 'with a little haven in front, in which boats often take shelter.'[i] By Treib is a rock called Wytenstein which when passed from the west, opens a view of the bay of Uri which led Mackintosh to write, 'It is upon this that it's superiority to all other lakes, or, as far as I know, scenes upon earth, depends.'[ii] Whether by Brünnen or opposite Brünnen, it is a view westward from that part of Lake Lucerne with the sun setting and the moon rising.

Brünnen was a village of much activity being the depot for goods going to and from Italy over the St. Gotthard Pass, and a place accessible by paths as well as water. The view looks up to a narrow stretch of the lake, described in 1776 by Coxe as 'an exceedingly narrow creek scarcely a mile across', and the vertical cliffs on the south side are of the type observed on Lake Lucerne by Coxe as 'perpendicular with forests of beech and pine growing down their sides to the very edge of the water, indeed the rocks are so entirely steep and overhanging, that it is with difficulty we could observe more than four or five spots, where we could have landed.'[iii]

The watercolour is the same size and the same view as Lake Lucerne, Switzerland (Manchester City Art Gallery). The moon in the Manchester watercolour is higher and more central, and further studies, in particular, Lake Lucerne: The Bay of Uri  from above Brünnen (Fig.1) and another of the same title (Private Collection, Wilton 1543) appear to be from close to the same viewpiont.[iv]

A further comparison to the Manchester watercolour shows that in both, Turner has chosen to focus upon moonlight and it's reflection on the water. The reflection of the moon in the present work is drawn with both scratching out and the application of white brushstrokes, the scratching made while the paper was still wet and subtle variations of colour made by brushstrokes once the paper has dried. Combining this with stopping out, Turner has achieved an extra-ordinary subtle and beautiful evening view with the sun still bathing the mountains in the distance.

The size of the watercolour, indicates that this was a sheet from one of Turner's roll sketchbooks, soft back books which he is said would roll and carry in his deep pockets, therefore easily accessible for him when he needed to sketch. It may have been a sample study, of which Turner made about twenty, which he drew for clients to peruse and choose for a final work. Thomas Griffith, Turner's agent, organised this and approached the main patrons like Benjamin Godfrey Windus, the Ruskins, H.A.J. Munro of Novar and Elhanan Bicknell. Ruskin, the young student who from meeting Turner in 1840, was becoming an ardent champion of him, recalled being shown fifteen sample sketches, while Windus appears to have been shown twenty.

The light from the hidden sunset, together with the translucent colour of still water, and the evident homecoming of the boats at the jetty, project an atmosphere of calm and silence, as was noted in 1776 by Coxe 'the lake was as smooth as chrystal (sic), and the silent, solemn gloom which reigned in this place was ... awful and affecting.'[v] This was perhaps emotive in circa. 1841 when Turner drew this watercolour, as in 1837, just a few years before, the boat La Ville de Lucerne had been launched as the first steamboat ferry which travelled the length of the lake eight times per week, destroying the silence.

[i] John Murray, A Hand-Book for Travellers in Switzerland, Savoy and Piedmont, 1838, p. 54

[ii] J. Murray, lit.op.cit., 1838, p. 55

[iii] David Hill, Turner in the Alps, 1992, p. 128

[iv] In cataloguing the Manchester watercolour, Charles Nugent and Melva Croal consider the possibility that the viewpint might be either from Brünnen or a spot near Fleulen near the south end of the lake. See Charles Nugent and Melva Croal, Turner Watercolours from Manchester, 1997, p.111

[v] David Hill, lit.op.cit., 1992, p. 128