A member of the Royal Scottish Academy, Horatio McCulloch was a major figure in British art of the Victorian period. McCulloch-like many of his peers, found inspiration in the countryside. But he was best known for his views of the rugged Scottish highlands. Here nature was at its least domesticated: the hills and moors a vivid palette of color.

This modest work of a loch is most likely a study in oil for a larger picture. The artist has captured the broad contours of the view, and begun to see his composition and structure. The free technique and bright color is striking in its simplicity.

McCulloch's personal collection showed an admiration for the then-novel style of J.M.W. Turner, and this work has some of the loosely-textured rhythms of Turner's paintings.

Horatio McCulloch exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art in London and virtually every year at the Royal Scottish Academy from 1829 to the end of his life. His work is in a number of museums throughout Britain.