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

Of the many sketches of Bass Rock in this sketchbook and the other 1818 sketchbooks, this is the view closest to the one that Turner chose for his watercolour of 1824, Bass Rock, circa 1824 (Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight);1 although more sketches were made in 1822 (Tate D17516, D17521, D17645, D17646 D17647; Turner Bequest CC 5, 7a, 78a, 79, 79a). It shows the rock from close up, drawn from a boat that Turner must have chartered to take him close up to examine it from different angles. Here the rock is seen from the south-west, with the ruins of the castle and fortifications (see folio 7 verso; D13334; CLXV 7a). Although the drawing is rather sketchy, as one of many it contains only the information that Turner wished to record. The sketch on the page above (7 verso) is taken from a very similar vantage point, but perhaps further away as it is less detailed.