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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Thames, London and South of England 1821 ... > Old London Bridge Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Stormy Sky c.1823-4

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Stormy Sky’ c.1823-4
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 28 Recto:
A Stormy Sky c.1823–4
D17883
Turner Bequest CCV 28
Watercolour on white wove paper, 98 x 162 mm
Watermark ‘1821’
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘28’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCV – 28’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Dramatic clouds loom over a plain or the sea; there is a very slight continuation on folio 27 verso opposite (D40963). This is one of a sequence of fourteen monochrome, tonal studies of landscapes and cloudy skies running from about the middle of the sketchbook onwards; for the others and further discussion, see the Introduction.
Technical notes:
There is a finger or palm print among the clouds towards the right, and more finger prints at the top centre, where the dark pigment has been lifted out while wet.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Stormy Sky c.1823–4 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-stormy-sky-r1172596, accessed 29 November 2024.