Lot Essay
Ruskin's enthusiasm for geology and botany provided him with fascinating subject matter for his drawing. In 1847 his interests were inspired by the countryside surrounding his friend William MacDonald's lodge in the Scottish Highlands. Ruskin described the place as 'one magnificent minerological specimen'. (see J. Ruskin, Works, XXVI, p. 373.). This study was drawn by Ruskin while at the shooting lodge of Crossmount at the foot of the Schehallion in the summer of 1847, an important point in Ruskin's life, influencing his economic theories as he described in chapter X of Praeterita, 1886-9 (Works, vol. XXXV, pp. 423-32). This study led on to the even greater detailed observation of such a work as the Study of Gneiss Rock at Glenfinlas of 1853 (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum; see N. Penny, Ruskin's Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1988, p. 36, no. 11, illustrated in colour).
The reference to Cunliffe in the inscription on the reverse of the backing seems to relate to Cunliffe's ownership of another study at Crossmount in 1847 (Works, vol. XXXVIII, p. 247, 'Study at Crossmount', pen and colour, 12½ x 8¼ in.).
Cunliffe, a retired lawyer, acquired a representative selection of Ruskin's drawing from Ruskin himself, and after the artist's death from severn.
During the summer of 1847, Ruskin pondered on his feelings for his cousin Effie Gray and, while walking in the highlands, making a series of drawings, he came to the decision that led him to propose to Effie two months later. The illfated marriage that took place in 1848 was annulled six years later and Effie in due course married John Everett Millais (1829-1896). A watercolour from the series, currently exhibited at London, Royal Academy Art Treasures of England, 22 January - 13 April 1998, no. 234, illustrated in colour.
The reference to Cunliffe in the inscription on the reverse of the backing seems to relate to Cunliffe's ownership of another study at Crossmount in 1847 (Works, vol. XXXVIII, p. 247, 'Study at Crossmount', pen and colour, 12½ x 8¼ in.).
Cunliffe, a retired lawyer, acquired a representative selection of Ruskin's drawing from Ruskin himself, and after the artist's death from severn.
During the summer of 1847, Ruskin pondered on his feelings for his cousin Effie Gray and, while walking in the highlands, making a series of drawings, he came to the decision that led him to propose to Effie two months later. The illfated marriage that took place in 1848 was annulled six years later and Effie in due course married John Everett Millais (1829-1896). A watercolour from the series, currently exhibited at London, Royal Academy Art Treasures of England, 22 January - 13 April 1998, no. 234, illustrated in colour.