The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

Flüelen, from the Lake of Lucerne

1845

Joseph Mallord William Turner

(British, 1775–1851)

England, 19th century

watercolor with gouache and scratch-away

Sheet: 29.2 x 47.9 cm (11 1/2 x 18 7/8 in.)

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1954.129

Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The art critic John Ruskin described the series of watercolors to which this work belongs as "sunset drawings," referring to to the fact that they were made at the end of Turner's career rather than their subject matter.

Description

In this watercolor, created late in his life, J.M.W. Turner depicted the small Swiss town of Flüelen and its shimmering reflection out of violet-colored mist. The work belongs to a group of highly finished works that the artist created during several summer trips to Switzerland between 1841 and 1845. The swirling vortex of light underscores the grandeur of nature, while the inclusion of figures going about their daily lives within the vastness of the Alps is a reminder of the reality of the scene. At the time he painted this view, Turner was considered the great master of Romantic landscape painting in England.

?-before 1850
Hugh A. J. Munro of Novar?
by c. 1850-?
Rev. C. Upham Barry, Ryde, Isle of Wight, by descent to his daughter
?-1884
His daughter, wife of Colonel P. G. Hewitt, Ryde, Isle of Wight
1884
(her sale Christie's, London, March 25, 1884, no. 139)
after 1884-?
Ralph Brocklebank Sr., Haughton Hall, Tarporley
?-1922
Ralph Brocklebank Jr., Haughton Hall,. Tarporley
1922
(his sale, Christie's, London, July 7, 1922, no. 34)
after 1922-?
(Thomas Agnew and Sons, London)
?-1943
Grace Rainey Rogers [1867-1943], New York, NY
1943
(her sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, November 18, 1943, no. 41)
after 1943-?
Walter F. Wedgwood, New York, NY
?-1954
(Durlacher Brothers, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH)
1954-
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Provenance Footnotes
1 "Windus" is inscribed on the verso of the sample study, and while B. G. Windus may have commissioned the work, Munro of Novar was apparently the first owner; for the most recent and exact commentary, see London 1995, 152-4.
Temple, A. G. Catalogue of the Loan Collection of Pictures and Drawings by J.M.W. Turner, and of a Selection of Pictures by Some of His Contemporaries. Exh. Cat. London: East & Blades, 1899. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 19-20, 112, no. 150 hdl.handle.net
Wedmore, Frederick, ed. Turner and Ruskin: An Exposition of the Work of Turner from the Writings of Ruskin. London: G. Allen, 1900. Mentinoed: vol. 2, p. xi; Reproduced: opposite p. 294
Armstrong, Sir Walter. Turner. London: T. Agnew, 1902. Mentioned: vol. 2, p. 264 hdl.handle.net
Carter, R. Radcliffe. Pictures and Engravings at Haughton Hall Tarporley in the Possession of Ralph Brocklebank. London: George Allen, 1904. Mentioned: pp. xi, xv, 87, no. 77; Reproduced: no. 77
Constable, W. G., and Henry Preston Rossiter. An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Prints by J.M.W. Turner, John Constable and R.P. Bonington. Exh. Cat. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1946. Mentioned: p. 21, no. 44
An Exhibition of Paintings by J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) to Commemorate the Centennial of His Death. Exh. Cat. Toronto: Art Gallery of Toronto, National Gallery of Canada, 1951. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 11
"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums, October - December 1953." Art Quarterly 7 (Summer 1954). Mentioned: p. 183
Francis, Henry. "A Water Color by J.M.W. Turner in the Cleveland Museum of Art." Art Quarterly 17 (Winter 1954): 427-9. Mentioned: pp. 427-9; Reproduced: p. 429
Francis, Henry Sayles. "A Water Color by J. M. W. Turner." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 41, no. 9 (1954): 201-3. Mentioned: pp. 201-3 www.jstor.org
Turner in America: Oils, Water Colors, Drawings, and Some Engraved Works of Joseph Mallord William Turner, English, 1775-1851. Exh. Cat. Indianapolis: Art Association of Indianapolis, 1955. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 47
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 477 archive.org
Great Master Drawings of Seven Centuries. Exh. Cat. New York: Wittenborn, 1959. Mentioned: pp. 91-92, no. 84; Reproduced: pl. LIX
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Watercolors and Drawings. Exh. Cat. New York: Otto Gerson Gallery, 1960. Mentioned and reproduced: no. 43
Ruskin and His Circle. Exh. Cat. London: London Arts Council, 1964. Mentioned: p. 31, no. 104
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 183 archive.org
Hawes, Louis. "Turner in New York." Burlington Magazine 108, no. 759 (1966): 311-16. Mentioned: p. 312 874986
Cummings, Frederick J., and Allen Staley. Romantic Art in Britain; Paintings and Drawings, 1760-1860. Exh. Cat. Detroit: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1968. Mentioned: p. 15, 26, 196-8, no. 121; Reproduced: no. 121
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 183 archive.org
Cormack, Malcolm. J.M.W. Turner, R.A., 1775-1851. Exh. Cat. Cambridge: Fitzwilliam, 1975. Mentioned: p. 70, under no. 44
Wilton, Andrew. Turner in the British Museum: Drawings and Watercolours. Exh. Cat. London: British Museum, 1975. Mentioned: p. 157, under no. 287
Wilton, Andrew. Turner in Switzerland. Zürich: De Clivo, 1976. Mentioned: p. 139, no. 93
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 208 archive.org
Wilton, Andrew. J.M.W. Turner: His Art and Life. New York: Secaucus, 1979. Mentioned: p. 244, 478, under no. 1483, 486, no. 1549; Reproduced: fig. 1549
"Visions of Landscape East and West." Asia 4, no. 5 (January/February 1982): 24-9. Reproduced: p. 28
Ditner, David C. "Claude and the Ideal Landscape Tradition in Great Britain." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 4 (1983): 147-63. Mentioned: pp. 159-60, 163 n. 48; Reproduced: fig. 9 25159812
Wilton, Andrew. Turner in His Time. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1987. Mentioned: p. 213
Wilcox, Scott, and Christopher Newall. Victorian Landscape Watercolors. Exh. Cat. New Haven: Yale Center for British Art, 1992. Mentioned: pp. 72-3, no. 8; Reproduced: p. 73
J.M.W. Turner, 1775-1851: Watercolours and Drawings from the Turner Bequest. Exh. Cat. Charleroi: Palais des Beaux-Arts, 1994. Mentioned: p. 242, under no. 83
Warrell, Ian. Through Switzerland with Turner. Exh. Cat. London: Tate Gallery, 1995. Mentioned: p. 79, under no. 38, p. 150, 154; Reproduced: fig. 50
DeGrazia, Diane, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. Mentioned: pp. 8, 192-3, 294-5; Reproduced: p. 193
Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 162
Arendsee, M., and M. Steinman-Arendsee. "Take the CAN disability aesthetics tour, at the Cleveland Museum of art." CAN Journal (Winter 2019/20): 76-87. Mentioned: p. 78
Imhof, Michael, and J. M. W. Turner. William Turner: Leben und Werk. Petersberg : Michael Imhof Verlag, 2023. Reproduced: p. 232
Julie Mehretu: Portals (FRONT International: Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 16-November 13, 2022).
British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).
Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).
Victorian Landscape Watercolors. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (November 18, 1992-January 3, 1993).
The Birth and Flowering of British Romantic Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 1-July 22, 1990).
Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
Turner Watercolors from The British Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 27-November 27, 1977).
Pictures and Drawings by J.M.W. Turner, R.A. London Art Gallery (1899).
Romantic Art in Britain: Paintings and Drawings 1760-1860. The Detroit Institute of Arts (organizer) (January 9-February 11, 1968); Philadelphia Museum of Art (March 14-April 21, 1968).
Ruskin and His Circle. Arts Council of Great Britain (organizer) (January 17-February 15, 1964).
Water Color. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 6-August 27, 1962).
Landscape. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 9-April 22, 1962).
Joseph Mallord William Turner: Watercolors and Drawings. Otto Gerson Gallery, New York, NY (organizer) (November 9-December 10, 1960).
Turner in America: Oils, Water Colors, Drawings, and Some Engraved Works of Joseph Mallord William Turner. Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN (organizer) (November 12, 1955-December 25, 1995).
An Exhibition of Paintings by J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) to Commemorate the Centennial of His Death. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (October - December, 1951).
An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, and Prints by J.M.W. Turner, John Constable, and R.P. Bonington. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (March 21 - April 28, 1946).
{{cite web|title=Flüelen, from the Lake of Lucerne|url=false|author=Joseph Mallord William Turner|year=1845|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.129