Inverary Pier, Loch Fyne, Morning (Liber Studiorum, part VII, plate 35)

Joseph Mallord William Turner

June 1, 1811 · Etching, aquatint and mezzotint; fourth state of six (Finberg) · Drawings and Prints

Turner distilled his ideas about landscape In "Liber Studiorum" (Latin for "Book of Studies"), a series of seventy prints plus a frontispiece published between 1807 and 1819. To establish the compositions, he made brown watercolor drawings, then etched outlines onto copper plates. In a few instances, as here, Turner also developed the tone, using aquatint and mezzotint to describe a Scottish loch bordered by mountains with the foreground enlivened by boats and fishermen near a pier, a floating buoy, and the fluke of a submerged anchor piercing the water. Despite the engraved title, the image does not represent Loch Fyne, but the smaller adjacent Loch Shira, and the "M" in the upper margin indicates Turner's category of Marine landscape.

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Date

June 1, 1811

Medium

Etching, aquatint and mezzotint; fourth state of six (Finberg)

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of David Keppel, 1917