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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1831 > Loch Long Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Loch Goil: Carrick Castle From the South-East, and From the North 1831

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Loch Goil: Carrick Castle From the South-East, and From the North’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 5 Recto:
Loch Goil: Carrick Castle From the South-East, and From the North 1831
D26627
Turner Bequest CCLXXI 5
Pencil on off-white laid writing paper, 101 x 158 mm
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘5’ top right running vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLXXI – 5’ top right running vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The two views of Carrick Castle on this page were made as Turner was travelling up Loch Goil during a round trip by steamboat and road to Loch Long, Loch Goil, the head of Loch Fyne, Glen Croe and down the length of Loch Long (see Tour of Scotland for Scott’s Poetical Works 1831 Tour Introduction for details).
Having sketched the mouth of Loch Goil on folio 1 verso (D26620), Turner’s boat entered Loch Goil and the artist made the sketch at the top of the present page of Carrick Castle from the south-east. Turner’s next view of the castle, sketched below, was from the north as his boat travelled towards Lochgoilhead. Here the castle is seen on a small promontory beneath the mountains along the western shore of the loch. There are similar views on folio 4 verso (D26626) and several other pages of the present sketchbook (see 4 verso for references).
Turner had another opportunity to sketch the castle from the south-east as he passed the mouth of Lochgoil on his return journey down Loch Long. There is a sketch of this view on folio 15 verso (D26648), and two more in the Stirling and the West sketchbook (Tate D26470, D26471; Turner Bequest CCLXX 18, 18a).
At the right of the page with the sketchbook turned to the right are a couple of jagged lines representing the outlines of mountains or distant hills. These are too slight to be identifiable.

Thomas Ardill
October 2009

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Loch Goil: Carrick Castle From the South-East, and From the North 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, October 2009, 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-loch-goil-carrick-castle-from-the-south-east-and-from-the-r1135064, accessed 18 May 2024.