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 ?Sunrise or Sunset over the Channel 1845

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Sunrise or Sunset over the Channel’ 1845
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 52 Recto:
?Sunrise or Sunset over the Channel 1845
D35579
Turner Bequest CCCLXI 52
Pencil on white wove paper, 86 x 111 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘52’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCCLXI – 52’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
At the top left, a vigorous study, unusually smudged to indicate tone, appears to show clouds, perhaps over the Channel; comparison with a similar drawing on folio 51 verso opposite (D35578) suggests the occasion is sunrise or sunset. At the bottom right is a slight study, perhaps drawn the other way up with elements suggesting clouds, masts and cliffs, with a smudged horizontal band suggesting the sea.
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:
There is some brown staining at the edge.
Verso:
Blank

Matthew Imms
September 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘?Sunrise or Sunset over the Channel 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-sunrise-or-sunset-over-the-channel-r1183998, accessed 07 February 2025.