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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Colour Studies of the Sun, Skies and ... > Skies Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study of a Cloudy Sky, Perhaps above the Sea c.1818

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study of a Cloudy Sky, Perhaps above the Sea’ c.1818
Folio 37 Recto:
Study of a Cloudy Sky, Perhaps above the Sea c.1818
D12485
Turner Bequest CLVIII 37
Watercolour on white wove paper, 125 x 247 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘37’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLVIII – 37’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
In this simple but lively sketch Turner has used blank areas of white paper and varying shades of blue and grey to suggest billowing clouds moving across the sky on a windy day. The curved brushstrokes present at the bottom of the composition might be waves lapping at a shore, suggesting that Turner might have created this sketch whilst standing on a beach, looking up at the sky.
See the sketchbook’s Introduction for general notes on possible locations and dating.
Verso:
Blank

Caitlin Doley
July 2024

How to cite

Caitlin Doley, ‘Study of a Cloudy Sky, Perhaps above the Sea c.1818’, catalogue entry, July 2024, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, October 2024, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/study-of-a-cloudy-sky-perhaps-above-the-sea-r1208909, accessed 22 November 2024.