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One of the most important drawings in The Hunterian collection has been reproduced on the cover of the spring edition of Turner Society News, the publication of the society devoted to furthering the appreciation and understanding of the art of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851).

An article about the work, Bacharach and Burg Stahleck, 1817, also featured within the publication. 

The beautiful watercolour by Turner depicts the fortified castle, Burg Stahleck, which sits above the German town of Bacharach. The work is not well known because its location was not traced when the catalogue raisoneé, The Paintings of J. M. W. Turner, was published in 1979, one year before the Hunterian Art Gallery opened. 

The Hunterian holds an important collection of Turner prints to which Bacharach and Burg Stahleck was added in 1948, bequeathed by Glasgow graduate Dr James McCallum. Unfortunately this link was not made by scholars in subsequent Turner literature which meant lovers of Turner were unaware of its location in a major public collection.

The article in Turner Society News was jointly written by Hunterian curator Peter Black and Elizabeth Jacklin, a Museums Galleries Scotland intern at The Hunterian in 2011 – 12.

Elizabeth went from The Hunterian to the Courtauld Gallery in London and has since been appointed Assistant Curator 1790-1850 at Tate Britain. There she took the opportunity to investigate The Hunterian’s Turner and found a related drawing in the sketchbook which the artist took on his Rhine tour of 1817.

Peter noted: “How rich Glasgow collections are in fine works which have escaped the attention of scholars. It is a joy to be able to put them on the map properly!”

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First published: 21 May 2015