Flüelen, from the Lake of Lucerne by Joseph Mallord William Turner
Look first

Flüelen, from the Lake of Lucerne

Joseph Mallord William Turner · 1845

A lakeside town nearly disappears into violet mist and reflected light.

What to notice

See how architecture and mountains dissolve at the edges while the reflection extends the atmosphere downward into the water.

Discover

Turner made this watercolor late in his career, when light and atmosphere increasingly overtook precise description. The Swiss landscape becomes as much about perception as place.

Source institution: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights status: CC0 / Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access
Cleveland Museum of Art
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