Last seen in public in 2019 at the Kunstmuseum Luzern’s major exhibition, Turner: The Sea and The Alps, and formerly part of the celebrated Ullens collects ion, this remarkable watercolor sees Turner return to his beloved Switzerland and the shores of Lake Lucerne.
It is dusk and the solid forms of day shift and blur as Turner, through the prism of light and color, explores the ever-changing atmospheric effects of his surroundings. He looks west, and as the last rays of the sun flash pink on the distant mountains, a silvery moon rises quietly out of the clouds. On the left, the steep cliffs that plunge almost vertically into the water are cast in shadow, while higher up, the sun still plays amongst their jagged peaks.
In the foreground to the left, drawn by Turner in rapid angular strokes, is a jetty, while close by are five flat-bott.mes d boats, symbolic of homecoming and projecting an atmosphere of calm and silence. There is not a breath of wind and the lake itself takes on a glass-like quality, its surface not only reflecting a myriad of colors but also the watery moon. The whole effect achieved by both scratching out and the application of white brush strokes, the scratching made while the paper was still wet and subtle variations of color made by brush strokes once the paper has dried. In this combination of his techniques, Turner has achieved an extraordinarily subtle and beautiful evening view.
It would appear most likely that Turner created this watercolor at the t.mes of one of his visits in circa 1842, from or near Brünnen, a favored spot that enjoyed superb views, in both directions, of Lake Lucerne. If taken from the opposite bank, then the viewpoint could have been at the ‘Treib’, a small inn ‘with a little haven in front, in which boats often take shelter.’1 Near to this inn stands the ‘Wytenstein,’ a rock which, when passed from the west, opens up a view of the Bay of Uri – a particularly revered arm of the lake.2 When the traveler, William Cox, visited the lake in 1776, he described Uri as ‘so amazingly grand and sublime, that the impression it made upon me will never be erased from my mind.’3 The vertical cliffs also made an impression for he wrote that ‘for the most part [they were] perpendicular with forests of beech and pine growing down their sides to the very edge of the water. Indeed, the rocks are so entirely steep and overhanging that it is with difficulty we could observe more than four or five spots where we could have landed.’4
The watercolor shows the same view as Turner’s A Swiss Lake, a work that was also exhibited at the 2019 Lucerne exhibition and forms part of the collects ion at Manchester City Art Gallery.5 Furthermore, the view closely resembles those in both Turner’s Lake Lucerne: The Bay of Uri from above Brünnen (Tate Britain, London) (Fig. 1) and Lake of Lucerne – Sunset (Private collects ion) (Fig. 2).6
Turner had been transfixed by Switzerland since his first visit in 1802, and between 1841 and 1844, he made four further extensive journeys to the country. Despite his advancing years, his enthusiasm for the spectacular scenery, the fresh air and the unique quality of light was unquenchable and during those summers, he continued to indulge in his lifelong passion for exploring the country’s network of mountains and lakes.
Turner appears to have used a sheet from one of his ‘roll’ sketchbooks – soft-back books that he made use of during these later tours – to create the present work. It was perhaps drawings such as this that he had in mind, when, in 1844, he explained to John Ruskin that ‘atmosphere is my style.’7
By this stage in his career, he had developed an extraordinarily rapid and varied technique that enabled him to capture the vast space before him not by virtue of solid boundaries so much as through the atmospheric effects of light and color. It was the air, as much as the tangible elements, that he wished to draw and this goal was achieved by a range of techniques, including close hatching, broad washes, scratching, pencil and pen and ink. By using such means, on only a small sheet, he was able to encompass an immense view.
Watercolors such as Lake Lucerne at Dusk remain a lasting testimony to Turner’s love of Switzerland. It is perhaps no surprise that they are now so highly prized, as for many, they represent the very pinnacle of his achievements in the medium of watercolor.
1. J. Murray, A Hand-Book for Travelers in Switzerland, Savoy and Piedmont, 1838, p. 54
2. Ibid., p. 55
3. D. Hill, Turner in the Alps, 1992, p. 128
4. Ibid.
5. Manchester Art Gallery, Accession no. 1917-TW0609
6. A. Wilton, The Life and Work of J.M.W. Turner, 1979, p. 485, no. 1543
7. I. Warrell, Through Switzerland with Turner, London 1995, p. 61