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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1834 > Edinburgh Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Sky 1834

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Sky’ 1834
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 69 Recto:
A Sky 1834
D26226
Turner Bequest CCLXVIII 69
Pencil on white wove paper, 111 x 181 mm
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘69’ bottom left descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLXVIII – 69’ bottom left descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
A quick sweep of Turner’s pencil bisects this page horizontally and represents the horizon in this visual note of the sky over the sea. Scribbles of different mass and density represent clouds that hover low over the horizon. What looks like a number ‘9’ at the centre of the sketch may in fact be the sun or a crescent moon. Turner may have made this sketch during his return from Edinburgh by sea in October 1834.
There are some light brown stains at the bottom right of the page.
Verso:
Blank

Thomas Ardill
January 2011

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘A Sky 1834 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2011, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-sky-r1136154, accessed 25 April 2024.