Turner’s skills as a virtuoso watercolorist are demonstrated in this image of a Swiss mountain lake surrounded by high peaks. He developed the work through successive applications of color—dilute washes, drier watercolors, and semi-opaque mixtures—then scraped through the layers to reveal white paper that suggests mist and reflections. The sun rises between the mountains Rossberg and Mythen behind the town of Arth, while women play in the water and villagers prepare to set out in boats. After a summer visit to the Lucerne region, the artist created a few large watercolors on commission for select patrons, basing the compositions on looser preparatory designs. As a celebrated example of Turner’s late work, The Lake of Zug is exhibited to mark the 250th anniversary of his birth.
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Artwork Details
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Title:The Lake of Zug
Artist:Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, London 1775–1851 London)
Date:1843
Medium:Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) with reductive techniques over graphite
Dimensions:11 3/4 × 18 3/8 in. (29.8 × 46.6 cm) Framed: 21 × 27 in. (53.3 × 68.6 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Marquand Fund, 1959
Object Number:59.120
Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro, of Novar (British, Scottish), not in list compiled at his death, 1865; John Ruskin (British)(in 1878 to ?); William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley (British); William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley (British); T. S. Kennedy (British), sold by his estate at the following; [Christie, Manson & Woods] Christie's, London, May 15, 1895, no. 95, bought by Agnew; Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd.; Sir Donald Currie and Currie Family (British), 1899-1959; Major F. D. Mirrielees (British), grandson of Sir Donald Currie, sold at the following; [Christie, Manson & Woods] Christie's, London, sale March 20, 1959, no. 56, ill.; Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., bought at the preceding; Vendor: Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd.
Museum Folkwang. "J.M.William Turner: Licht und Farbe," September 15, 2001–January 6, 2002.
Kunsthaus Zürich. "J.M.William Turner: Licht und Farbe," February 1, 2002–May 26, 2002.
Washington. National Gallery of Art. "J. M. W. Turner," October 1, 2007–January 6, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "J. M. W. Turner," June 24–September 21, 2008.
Tate Britain. "Painting Set Free: Re-reading Late Turner," September 15, 2014–January 18, 2015.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Making The Met, 1870–2020," August 29, 2020–January 3, 2021.
Wilton, 1979.1535
Making the Met, 1870–2020. Andrea Bayer, Laura D. Corey, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 65, fig. 60.
John Ruskin Notes by Mr. Ruskin on His Collection of Drawings by the Late J.M.W. Turner, R.A., Exhibited at the Fine Art Society's Galleries: also a list of the engraved works of that master shown at the same time.. The Fine Art Society, London, London, 1878, cat. no. 64, pp. 67-8 (Ruskin's notes on the Fine Art Society Exhibition of 1878), ill.
Exhibition of Works by J.M.W. Turner.. Guildhall, London, 1899, cat. no. 151.
Sir Frederick Wedmore Turner and Ruskin: An Exposition of the Work of Turner from the Writings of Ruskin; edited, with a Biographical Note on Turner by F. Wedmore.. George Allen & Co., Ltd., 2 vols., London, 1900, p. 342.
Sir Walter Armstrong Turner. Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., Charles Scribner's Sons, 2 vols., 1902, pp. 142 (plate) and 286.
Edward Dillon "Turner's Last Swiss Drawings, Part I and II." The Art Journal. Virtue & Co., London, 1902, part II, pp. 332, 363.
John Ruskin The Works of Ruskin. Sir Edward Tyas Cook, Alexander D. O. Wedderburn, George Allen & Co., Ltd., 39 vols., Library edition. London, 1903–12, Vol. XIII, pp. 455, 534,Vol. V, fig. 87.
Winter Exhibition of Works by J.M.W. Turner.. Royal Academy of Arts, 1907, cat. no. 216.
Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd. Centenary Exhibition of Water-Colour Drawings by J.M.W. Turner, R.A.. February–March, 1951, cat. no. 117.
"International Saleroom." in Connoisseur Magazine. 1959.
"Ninetieth Annual Report of the Trustees, for the Fiscal Year 1959-1960." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.s. vol. 19, no. 2, New York, October 1960, p. 35, ill.
Alexander Joseph Finberg The Life of J.M.W. Turner, R.A.. Clarendon Press, 1961, p. 393.
Claus Virch "Ye Mists amd Exhalations That Now Rise." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.s. vol. 20, no. 8, New York, April 1962, pp. 248–56, ill.
Turner, 1775–1851. [Exh. cat.: 16 November, 1974–2 March, 1975]. Tate Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, 1974, cat. no. 606, p. 167.
Joseph R. Goldyne J.M.W. Turner: Works on Paper from American Collections. [Ex. cat.: September 30-November 23]. University Art Museum, University of California at Berkeley, 1975, cat. no. 42, pp. 148-9.
Malcolm Cormack, Fitzwilliam Museum J.M.W. Turner, R.A., 1775-1851: A Catalogue of Drawings and Watercolours in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.. Cambridge University Press, 1975, cat. no. 2, p. 80.
David Loshak J.M.W. Turner – akvareller og tegninger fra British Museum. [Ex. cat.: 28 February–2 May]. Statens Museum for Kunst, 1976, p. 80, ill.
Andrew Wilton, John Russell Turner in Switzerland: Survey and Notes with a Checklist of the Finished Swiss Watercolors. De Clivo Press, Dubendorf (Zurich), 1976, checklist no. 79, pp. 114-5, 139, ill.
Andrew Wilton J.M.W. Turner: His Art and Life. Rizzoli, New York, 1979, cat. no. 1535, p. 484, ill.
Andrew Wilton J.M.W. Turner: France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland.. George Braziller, 1982, p. 67.
John Gage, Jerrold Ziff, Nicholas Alfrey, Evelyn Joll, Andrew Wilton J.M.W. Turner: à l'occasion du cinquantième anniversaire du British Council, exh. cat., Galeries nationales du Grande Palais, Paris, 14 octobre 1983–16 janvier 1984. Paris, 1983, cat. no. 249, p. 299.
Ian Warrell Through Switzerland with Turner: Ruskin's First Selection from the Turner Bequest. [Ex. cat.]. Tate Gallery, 1995, pp. 67, 151-2, fig. 25.
Georg W. Koltzsch, Andrew Wilton William Turner: Licht und Farbe. exh. cat., Museum Folkwang, Essen and Kunsthaus, Zurich. 2001, cat. no. 180, pp. 238, 357, ill.
Ian Warrell, Franklin Kelly J.M.W. Turner. [Ex. cat.: National Gallery of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 21, 2007–September 21, 2008]. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Tate Publishing , London, 2007, cat. no. 158, pp. 218-19, ill.
Nadine Orenstein, Jeff L. Rosenheim "A Centennial Album: Drawings, Prints and Photographs." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. LXXIV, no. 3, Winter 2017, p. 41, ill.
Turner's Apprentice A Watercolour Masterclass. London, UK, 2020, p. 12.
Assistant Curator Allison Rudnick highlights the works from the Department of Drawings and Prints' remarkable collection that will be on rotating view in The Robert Wood Johnson, Jr. Gallery.
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The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.
