Lot Essay
This unusually fresh watercolour, which is one of Turner's most magnificent and celebrated late Swiss watercolours, was probably executed in 1843. Turner visited the eastern end of the Lake of Lucerne and Brunnen, situated below Schwyz and the Mythen, on his tours of Switzerland in 1841, 1842 and 1843. The group of watercolours showing this area are usually dated to 1843 and for further examples see Wilton, loc.cit., nos.1485-1487. Another unrecorded example was sold at Christie's London on 25 April 1995, lot 69, illustrated in colour. (For Turner's visits to Switzerland see also J. Russell and A. Wilton, Turner in Switzerland, Zurich, 1976, which includes maps showing the artist's journeys).
Schwyz (names 'Switz' in Turner's Lake of Zug and Goldan Sketchbook, T.B. CCCXXXI) has the cachet of having given both its name and its flag to the Swiss Confederation. It is situated at the front of the twin Mythen peaks, between Lake Lucerne and Lauerz.
A.J. Finberg (loc.cit.) described the setting of this watercolour as follows: 'There can be no doubt about the locality which furnished the motive of this lovely vision... There in the distance are the two Mythens; and there at the edge of the lake is Brunnnen. The drawing must have been made at or near Treib, on the Lake of Lucerne.'
The present watercolour shows Turner's extraordinary rapid and calligraphic technique which, combined with delicate washes, enabled him to contrast the subtle atmospheric effects over the lake with the ethereal mountains behind. Turner's ability to capture the feeling of light and colour on such a small scale has rarely been surpassed.
Schwyz (names 'Switz' in Turner's Lake of Zug and Goldan Sketchbook, T.B. CCCXXXI) has the cachet of having given both its name and its flag to the Swiss Confederation. It is situated at the front of the twin Mythen peaks, between Lake Lucerne and Lauerz.
A.J. Finberg (loc.cit.) described the setting of this watercolour as follows: 'There can be no doubt about the locality which furnished the motive of this lovely vision... There in the distance are the two Mythens; and there at the edge of the lake is Brunnnen. The drawing must have been made at or near Treib, on the Lake of Lucerne.'
The present watercolour shows Turner's extraordinary rapid and calligraphic technique which, combined with delicate washes, enabled him to contrast the subtle atmospheric effects over the lake with the ethereal mountains behind. Turner's ability to capture the feeling of light and colour on such a small scale has rarely been surpassed.