Lauterbrunnen Valley from Murren

Alfred William Hunt, RWS 1830-1896

Watercolour with scratching out over pencil

9 3/4 X 6 1/2 inches, 25 X 16 centimetres.

See commentary below

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Commentary by Hilary Morgan

This watercolour demonstrates Ruskin's influence over Hunt, both in its Turneresque handling of the medium and in its subject. Ruskin's passion for alpine scenery meant that all the painters he sought to influence were encouraged to go to Switzerland. His geological interests also meant that they were encouraged to understand the forms of the landscape they depicted. Ruskin discussed the necessity for this extensively in Modern Painters (volume four) and singled out the "cliffs of Lauterbrunnen, in the Oberland" as perfect instances of mountains formed by the erosion of soft strata lying over hard. The present watercolour clearly shows the steep cliff face surmounted by a slope that results from this geological formation.

References

Marsh, Jan. Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood. London: Quartette, 1985.

Morgan, Hilary, and Peter Nahum. Burne-Jones, the Pre-Raphaelites, and Their Century. London: Peter Nahum, 1989. Catalogue number 22.

John Ruskin, Modern Painters, volume 4 (1856), part V, chapter XII section 18 (1897 edition page 157).

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Last modified 28 December 2001