Explorations in the footsteps of Turner, Cotman, Ruskin and others with Professor David Hill
On 29 September 2014 Sublimesites.co published an article, ‘In Ruskin’s Footsteps at Bellinzona’. This focused on an important watercolour that Ruskin painted there in 1868, and for the first time identified his exact viewpoint. I notice with some interest therefore that Lowell Libson is exhibiting Bellinzona at the Maastrich Art Fair 11-20 March 2016. Alongside … Continue reading News: Ruskin’s watercolour of Bellinzona
REVISED 14 April 2016 (DH) towards end, to discuss recently discovered poetic source This post concludes the essay begun on 19 October 2015 and continued on 18, 20 and 23 November 2015 and 17 January 2016. In part #1, I followed in the footsteps of Turner’s comprehensive exploration of Heidelberg in 1833. In part #2, … Continue reading In Turner’s Footsteps at Heidelberg: Part 6
This article returns the attention of Sublimesites.co to the southern Swiss city of Bellinzona to investigate another site drawn by John Ruskin. Bellinzona has been the subject of two previous articles published on 29 September 2014. The new site is the Salita della Nocca, a narrow, cobbled path that climbs outside the walls to Montebello … Continue reading In Ruskin’s Footsteps at Bellinzona: The Salita della Nocca
In November 2012 I made a short site visit to the southern Swiss town of Bellinzona. It stands at the entrance to the Ticino valley above Locarno and for centuries served as the southern gateway to the St Gotthard Pass, controlling traffic between northern Italy, especially Lago Maggiore, Milan and Turin, and northern Switzerland including … Continue reading In Ruskin’s Footsteps: the Balconies of Bellinzona
This article identifies the exact subject of one of John Ruskin's most highly regarded Alpine watercolours. The Swiss town of Bellinzona guards the southern entrance to the Alps from Lake Maggiore, and commands the St Gotthard route from Italy to the north. In 1858 Ruskin found there one of the most important subjects of his … Continue reading In Ruskin’s Footsteps at Bellinzona
At the end of May I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Lucerne and explore in the footsteps of John Ruskin. Among the subjects that particularly interested me were three unidentified architectural drawings. On the face of it, the chances of identifying their subjects seemed remote. Two drawings record individual timbered buildings … Continue reading In Ruskin’s Footsteps: Three newly identified architectural subjects at Lucerne
This is the third in a series of seven articles that will catalogue an important group of drawings by John Ruskin at King’s College, Cambridge. For general notes on the collection see under article #1. 3. The Dent d'Oche range on the south side of Lac Leman from Vevey, Switzerland, 1846? Pencil and watercolour, on … Continue reading Ruskin drawings at King’s College, Cambridge: #3 The Dent d’Oche range on the south side of Lac Leman from Vevey, Switzerland
Regular readers (!?) may be thinking that this site is becoming overly sublunary. This is the third article to follow Turner’s footsteps into the night. I ought to confess that I do have at least one other article to write on the theme, but that may wait a little. This one, however, follows hard on … Continue reading Turner in Switzerland #3: Zurich by Moonlight
REVISED VERSION WITH NEW PHOTOS, JUNE 2014 This article seeks to give some consideration to a well-known, but relatively-little-discussed watercolour by Turner, Lucerne by Moonlight at the British Museum, London (note 1). Given that it is widely considered to be one of the most important of a great late series of Swiss subjects from the … Continue reading Turner in Switzerland #2:Lucerne by Moonlight
Sotheby’s London sale of Impressionist and Modern Art on 6 February 2014 included as lot 140 a Turner watercolour identified as 'Swiss lake scene, possibly Brienz, c.1848' (1). This article can now offer an exact identification of the subject as the Lungernsee (2) and also propose a more precise date, relating it to Turner’s last … Continue reading Turner in Switzerland #1: The Lungernsee and Brunig Pass
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