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Near Blair Athol (from the Liber Studiorum) Turner
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Curator’s description:
Description
The print shows a scene on the River Tilt, 'about half a mile above its junction with the Garry', according to Ruskin. A kilted angler stands in the river, holding his rod aloft.
This is one of the prints from Turner's "Liber studiorum", issued in part VI, published on 1 June 1811, classified by Turner as a 'mountainous' landscape. The presence of the lettering, and the absence of any visible mark in the margin and of a faint 'H' below the 'e' of 'Duke', identify this as the first state of the print. It is based on drawings made by Turner in his Scottish tour in the summer of 1801.
The print was first catalogued in the collection by Ruskin in 1870, when he listed it as no. 31 F in the Educational series in the "Catalogue of Examples", alongside several other prints from the "Liber studiorum". In 1871, it was renumbered as no. 97, part of Case VI, "Advanced Illustrations of Landscape", where it again accompanied plates from the "Liber studiorum", as well as some of Turner's pencil sketches for them. By 1874, it had been renumbered as no. 147, but remained in the same position in the series. It is not mentioned in Ruskin's 1878 reorganisation of the Educational Series.
In the "Catalogue of Examples", Ruskin noted how Turner had rejected the beautiful incidental details, instead capturing in 'this single scene the spirit of Scotland'. He made very similar statements in his second lecture on landscape, "Light and Shade", delivered on 9 February 1871 (Lectures on Landscape § 36 = XXII.35-36).
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Details
- Artist/maker
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Turner (Joseph Mallord William Turner) (1775 - 1851) (designer, etcher)William Say (1768 - 1834) (engraver)
- Object type
- Material and technique
- etching and mezzotint on paper
- Dimensions
- 193 x 269 mm (sheet); 216 x 297 mm (original mount)
- Associated people
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Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775 - 1851) (publisher)
- Associated place
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- Europe › United Kingdom › Scotland › Perthshire › River Tilt › River Tilt (subject)
- Europe › United Kingdom › Scotland › Perthshire › Glen Tilt › Glen Tilt (subject)
- Inscription
- Recto:
below the print, engraved:
left: Drawn & Etched by J.M.W. Turner Esqr. R.A.
right: Engraved by W. Say Engraver to H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester
centre: NEAR BLAIR ATHOL SCOTLAND | Published June 1811 by J. M[...]
just to the right, in graphite: 10 3/8 x 7 1/8 b
on the mount, bottom right, in ink: 15
Verso, towards left, towards bottom; and again towards right, bottom, the Ruskin School's stamp
- Provenance
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Presented by John Ruskin to the Ruskin Drawing School (University of Oxford), 1875; transferred from the Ruskin Drawing School to the Ashmolean Museum, c.1949.
- No. of items
- 1
- Accession no.
- WA.RS.ED.147
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Subject terms allocated by curators:
Subjects
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References in which this object is cited include:
References
Ruskin, John, Catalogue of the Educational Series (London: Smith, Elder, 1871), cat. Educational no. 97
Ruskin, John, Catalogue of the Educational Series (London: Spottiswoode, 1874), cat. Educational no. 147
Ruskin, John, Catalogue of Examples Arranged for Elementary Study in the University Galleries (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1870), cat. Educational no. 31.F
Finberg, Alexander J., The History of Turner's Liber Studiorum: With a New Catalogue Raisonné (London: Ernest Benn, 1924), no. 30
Ruskin, John, ‘The Ruskin Art Collection at Oxford: Catalogues, Notes and Instructions’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 21, cat. Educational no. 147
Ruskin, John, ‘Lectures on Architecture and Painting, Delivered in Edinburgh in November, 1853’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 12, pl. V, f.p. 35
Ruskin, John, ‘Lectures on Landscape: Delivered at Oxford in Lent Term, 1871’, Edward T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, eds, The Works of John Ruskin: Library Edition, 39 (London: George Allen, 1903-1912), 22
Location
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- Western Art Print Room
Position in Ruskin’s Collection
Ruskin's Catalogues
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Ruskin's Educational series, 1st ed. (1871)
97 Blair Athol. (Liber Studiorum). E -
Ruskin's Educational series, 2nd ed. (1874)
147. Blair Athol. (Liber Studiorum). E -
Ruskin's Catalogue of Examples (1870)
31 F. Near Blair Athol. (Liber Studiorum.)This last subject is on the stream which comes down from Glen Tilt, about half a mile above its junction with the Garry. The projecting rock is conspicuous, and easily found. You will think at first the place itself much more beautiful than Turner’s study; the rocks are lovely with lichen, the banks with flowers; the stream-eddies are foaming and deep. But Turner has attempted none of these minor beauties, and has put into this single scene the spirit of Scotland.
