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 an Overcast Sky, Perhaps over Water c.1818

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study of an Overcast Sky, Perhaps over Water’ c.1818
Folio 58 Recto:
Study of an Overcast Sky, Perhaps over Water c.1818
D12506
Turner Bequest CLVIII 58
Watercolour on white wove paper, 125 x 247 mm
Watermark ‘J Whatman | 1814’
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘58’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLVIII – 58’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
On this page Turner has used washes of various shades of grey to evoke a roiling, overcast sky. The heaviest grey cloud in the composition is surrounded by vertical paint strokes, suggesting that it has broken and that rain is beginning to fall. The jagged strokes of blue paint in the lower section of the composition suggest that this skyscape is situated above a body of water.
See the sketchbook’s Introduction for general notes on possible locations and dating.
Technical notes:
Some dark stains are visible along the very edges of the leaf, possibly caused by water damage sustained during the 1928 Tate flood.
Verso:
Blank

Caitlin Doley
July 2024

How to cite

Caitlin Doley, ‘Study of an Overcast Sky, Perhaps over Water 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-an-overcast-sky-perhaps-over-water-r1208930, accessed 01 April 2026.