# The Lake of Zug

**Joseph Mallord William Turner** (English, 1775–1851)  
1843  
Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) with reductive techniques over graphite  
11 3/4 × 18 3/8 in. (29.8 × 46.6 cm) Framed: 21 × 27 in. (53.3 × 68.6 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 59.120. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/337499).

## About this work

The Lake of Zug in central Switzerland lies beneath mountains that dissolve into luminous haze, with a few small boats on the water. Turner made this watercolour in 1843 as one of a group of late Swiss views based on sketches from his summer tours and offered to collectors through his agent. He worked the colour wet, then lifted, scraped and rubbed out highlights, so that light seems to rise from within the paper itself.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Joseph Mallord William Turner painted this in 1843, aged 68. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Opaque watercolour.** Watercolour made opaque with white or chalk and laid in flat, even layers. Persian and Indian painters ground their colours from minerals, applied them with the finest brushes and burnished the finished page.
- **Watercolour.** Pigment in gum arabic, thinned with water and laid in transparent washes. Nothing white is painted: the light is the paper showing through.
- **Graphite.** Pencil. Graphite has been used for drawing since the 1500s; in 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté mixed it with clay, so its hardness could be graded.

### [Joseph Mallord William Turner](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/joseph-mallord-william-turner)

English, 1775–1851; born in London; died in London

Turner, a London barber’s son, entered the Royal Academy Schools at fourteen and was elected a full Academician at twenty-six. Travelling constantly in Britain and on the Continent, he filled hundreds of sketchbooks and made thousands of watercolours. His oils moved from classical landscapes in the manner of Claude towards vortices of light, steam and weather, as in The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, a fire he witnessed in 1834. He left most of his work to the nation.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawings
- The artist was 68
- Real size: about 12 × 18 in (30 × 47 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: Lakes, Mountains, Landscapes, Boats
- Colour: olive
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1025.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1025/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-lake-of-zug-met-337499).