A5 (14.8 x 21 cm) single postcard featuring Bell Rock Lighthouse by Joseph Mallord William Turner, part of the National Galleries of Scotland Collection.
The Bell Rock Lighthouse, which is situated off the Angus coast south-east of Arbroath, is one of the greatest achievements of early nineteenth-century engineering. It was designed by Robert Stevenson and built between 1807 and 1811 on a partially submerged reef, using the latest and most revolutionary construction methods.
In 1819, Stevenson commissioned Turner to design a frontispiece for his book Account of the Bell Rock Lighthouse. This watercolour was the result. Turner never actually visited the lighthouse, and probably based his design on drawings. It was subsequently engraved for Stevenson’s account by John Horsburgh and published in 1824.
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775 – 19 December 1851), known as J. M. W. Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker, and watercolourist, known for his brilliant, expressive colourisation, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings.
