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 ... > River Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner An Approaching Thunderstorm c.1823-4

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘An Approaching Thunderstorm’ c.1823-4
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 33 Recto:
An Approaching Thunderstorm c.1823–4
D17816
Turner Bequest CCIV 33
Pencil on white wove paper, 190 x 111 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘full of [?Wash]’ top left, ‘all grey’ towards top right and ‘Thunder storm coming on’ above right of centre
Stamped in black ‘CCIV – 33’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned vertically, Turner has used the outer third to record an oncoming storm, apparently accompanied by ‘Thunder’ rather than above a ‘Meadows’ setting as Finberg suggested.1 For other sky and cloud studies, see the entry for the inside of the front cover (D40982). A tall tree is silhouetted to the right, with a low wooded horizon beyond, but the setting in itself is unidentifiable. It may be the Thames Valley, as seen on numerous other pages; see under folio 2 recto (D17775). The stormy view on the verso (D17817) may be at Isleworth.
1
Finberg 1909, I, p.619.
Technical notes:
John Ruskin’s customary red ink page number beside the later stamp is not readily apparent here, although those on other leaves of this sketchbook are generally very faint.

Matthew Imms
November 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘An Approaching Thunderstorm c.1823–4 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 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-an-approaching-thunderstorm-r1172524, accessed 26 April 2024.