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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > History Painting c.1799-1807 > Calais Pier Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study for a Stormy Sea Piece c.1799-1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study for a Stormy Sea Piece’ c.1799-1805
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 2 Verso:
Study for a Stormy Sea Piece c.1799–1805
D04905
Turner Bequest LXXXI 4
Black chalk on blue laid paper, 271 x 436 mm
Watermarks ‘1794’ and Strasburg lily
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘4’ bottom right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘LXXXI–4’ bottom right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Drawn with the page turned horizontally, this appears to be a broad study for a picture showing a maritime storm, like the Shipwreck of 1805 (Tate N00476),1 though Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll do not associate it with that work;2 for studies relating to the painting, see under folio 1 verso (D04903; Turner Bequest LXXXI 2). The black mass at the left seems to be the hull of a large ship seen from a viewpoint close to the heaving water. Compare the study on folio 3 verso (D04907; Turner Bequest LXXXI 6).

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

1
Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984, p.43 no.54, pl.64 (colour).
2
See ibid.

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Study for a Stormy Sea Piece c.1799–1805 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-study-for-a-stormy-sea-piece-r1178109, accessed 21 November 2024.