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A moody watercolor of the Scottish Highlands. A large blue waterfall and a dramatic sky cast its shadow over the rocky valley. In the foreground are a few figures.
A moody watercolor of the Scottish Highlands. A large blue waterfall and a dramatic sky cast its shadow over the rocky valley. In the foreground are a few figures.
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  • A moody watercolor of the Scottish Highlands. A large blue waterfall and a dramatic sky cast its shadow over the rocky valley. In the foreground are a few figures.
  • A moody watercolor of the Scottish Highlands. A large blue waterfall and a dramatic sky cast its shadow over the rocky valley. In the foreground are a few figures.

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Glencoe

Maker

Joseph Mallord William Turner (English, 1775-1851)

Title

Glencoe

Year

1831-1834

Medium

  • Watercolor with scraping and touches of black chalk on wove paper

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Watercolor with scraping and touches of black chalk on wove paper

Materials

watercolor

Supports

  • wove paper

Dimensions

9.4 x 14.3 cm (3 11/16 x 5 5/8 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

22.087

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Exhibition History

Drawing Closer
Four Hundred Years of Drawing from the RISD Museum
Mar 12, 2022 – Sep 04, 2022

Label copy

This small sheet holds a vast and turbulent view of Glencoe, a scenic river valley in the highlands of Scotland. Joseph Turner presents this sublime panorama as a vortex of color and light, his energetic brushstrokes mingled with minute details, such as the couple starting a fire in the foreground and the tiny figure-just a fleck of bright red-walking down a winding path to the right. As the boundaries between rock, sky, and raincloud blur, the grandeur of nature comes into sharper focus.

From Dürer to Van Gogh
Gifts from Eliza Greene Radeke and Helen Metcalf Danforth
Jun 05, 2008 – Oct 26, 2008

Label copy

Turner’s watercolor practice was closely related to printmaking, and a large portion of his designs were eventually engraved for various publications. This watercolor was one of 40 designs intended to illustrate the published volumes of Sir Walter Scott's Prose Works, Tales of a Grandfather, 1834. Literary illustration afforded Turner the luxury of experimenting with dramatic landscape. He set out to represent not only the districts and places described in Scott's text, but also the mood of the tales.

Master Drawing from the Museum and a Private Collection
Jun 19, 1946 – Oct 27, 1946

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Joseph Mallord William Turner (English, 1775-1851)
Glencoe, 1831-1834
Watercolor with scraping and touches of black chalk on wove paper
9.4 x 14.3 cm (3 11/16 x 5 5/8 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 22.087

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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