J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1836-47 Modern painter > Autumn Tour of Northern France 1845 > Dieppe and Kent Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Sailing Ship at Sea 1845

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Sailing Ship at Sea’ 1845
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 1 Verso:
A Sailing Ship at Sea 1845
D35488
Turner Bequest CCCLXI 1a
Pencil on white wove paper, 86 x 111 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘all warm’ top left, ‘yll’ and ‘w’ top centre, ‘[?true] HL’ centre right, and ‘Calm Sea | Bright blue Sky [?down] to the Sea’ below centre
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, this study of the port side of a ship under sail includes some shading, suggesting sunlight casting shadow from the foremast’s sails to the mainmast’s. The apparent inscription ‘true HL’, presumably indicating the sea’s horizon line some way above the hull, suggests an elevated coastal viewpoint, likely overlooking the Channel. The dark marks at the bottom left may be figures on the shore.
Other aspects of light, colours and conditions are noted with typical brevity; see the sketchbook’s Introduction for the many slight coastal and shipping views and inscribed studies of clouds and the sun over the sea scattered through it.
Technical notes:
The whole page has darkened, possibly as a result of water damage in the 1928 Tate flood.

Matthew Imms
September 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Sailing Ship at Sea 1845 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-sailing-ship-at-sea-r1183913, accessed 24 November 2024.