about 1794 - 1797

D NG 854

The decrepit boat house provides a strong architectural accent in this river scene. The tall vertical posts recall classical columns and it may be that studies of classical ruins influenced the choice of composition here. Before joining Monro's 'Academy' Turner had studied with the architectural draughtsman Thomas Malton who specialized in views of London. He also coloured drawings for the architect Thomas Hardwick. The fine pen lines and blue and grey washes which articulate the structure and shadow follow the conventional practice of Monro's students. These included the gifted artist Thomas Girtin for whom Turner had great respect.

• Material: Blue and grey washes over pencil on paper
• Size: 20.60 x 29.70 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland

about 1836

D NG 862

Turner did not travel to India. This watercolour is based on a sketch by Lieutenant George Francis White and is one of seven Turner made after White's sketches. They were engraved for a publication of 'Views of India, chiefly among the Himalaya Mountains' in 1838. Turner's imaginative interpretation of the scene drew on his direct experience of other mountainous regions. The small figures standing by a tent are dwarfed by the huge waterfalls thundering over enormous rocks.

• Material: Watercolour with scraping on paper
• Size: 13.60 x 20.20 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland

1801

D NG 886

The river Clyde cascades over the rocks and the spray from the falls fills the air. This is the earliest of Turner's watercolours of the Falls of Clyde which he visited on a sketching tour to the North of England and Scotland in 1801. Here he has moved away from a purely topographical description of the scene to one which is more dramatic in both colouring and light effects. He joined two pieces of sketchbook paper to accommodate this dynamic view. There are related watercolours in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool and the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight.

• Material: Watercolour over pencil with some scraping on two sheets of paper joined and laid down
• Size: 41.30 x 52.10 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland

1831

D NG 861

The foreground figures help establish the scale of this awe inspiring view over the remote Loch Coruisk. The Cuillin Mountains soar above the loch like gigantic waves. Water, rock and cloud fuse together in a whirling vortex. Turner skilfully conveys the powerful grandeur of the scene on a small sheet of paper, drawing on his memory and the pencil sketches he made after the spectacular climb from the loch-shore. Turner had travelled north from Edinburgh in 1831 to prepare suitable subjects for his illustrations of Scott's works. This appeared as the frontispiece to Cadell's edition of 'Lord of the Isles.'

• Material: Watercolour with scraping on paper
• Size: 8.90 x 14.30 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland

about 1836

D NG 864

Turner combines the translucency of pure watercolour with opaque body-colour to convey the dazzling fusion of light and mountain mist enveloping the scene. Architecture and mountains appear to emerge from and dissolve back into the atmospheric vapour. It is possible that Turner worked on this during or just after his return from his second visit to Switzerland in 1836. He was accompanied on the trip by his friend and patron Hugh Munro of Novar, a young Scottish landowner and amateur painter.

• Material: Watercolour and bodycolour on paper
• Size: 24.10 x 30.00 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland

about 1835

D NG 871

A bolt of lightning flashes across the Piazzetta viewed from the Grand Canal, illuminating the Doge's Palace, the side and one dome of St Marks and the arcade of the Marciana Library. The statue of St Theodore, the first patron saint of Venice, and the winged lion of St Mark on top of the monolithic columns, tower above people running for cover from the rain. Turner conveys both the drama of the storm and the beauty of the Piazzetta with spectacular scraping off and rubbing into the paper's white surface. This work was made sometime after Turner's second visit to Venice in 1833.

• Material: Watercolour and bodycolour with pen and ink and scraping on paper
• Size: 22.10 x 32.10 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland

about 1819 - 1835

D NG 874

The distinctive architecture of the Rialto Bridge is depicted in shade, immediately enhancing its powerful presence across the Grand Canal. Turner used the whiteness of the paper itself to describe the sun bleached facades of the buildings, simply suggesting the architectural detail with a few light touches of the brush. The contrast of light and shadow between buildings and bridge is striking. Turner also captured the colourful character of the busy canal traffic and its reflections in the water. This drawing is connected with the artist's last visit to Venice in 1840.

• Material: Watercolour over black chalk
• Size: 22.70 x 30.20 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland

about 1846

D NG 885

Dazzling sunlight fills this view of Heidelberg on the River Rhine. The architecture of the hill top town is veiled in a shimmering golden mist reflected in the river. Groups of figures animate the foreground, which is punctuated with touches of deep red, white and blue. The work appears to be almost a glorious essay in the use of colour, rather than an exercise in topography. It is one of several large views of Heidelberg connected with drawings Turner made on tours to the Rhineland in the 1840s. This is considered to be among his finest late works on paper from about 1846.

• Material: Watercolour, pen and ink and scraping out on paper
• Size: 37.40 x 55.30 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland

about 1835

D NG 872

The city is just visible at the right on the horizon, caught between stormy skies and choppy lagoon water. Colourful washes and brushstrokes combine to capture the atmospheric fusion of the elements in which the buildings almost seems to dissolve. The dark silhouette of a steamer stands out from the sailing boats tossing around in the waves; contrasting the old age of sail with the modern one of steam transport was a theme the artist explored in other works, such 'The Fighting Temeraire' (National Gallery, London). Turner visited Venice three times in 1819, 1833 and 1840. This drawing is characteristic of the studies made during his last visit in 1840.

• Material: Watercolour, pen and ink and scraping on paper
• Size: 22.10 x 32.00 cm
• National Galleries of Scotland