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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Liber Studiorum notes c.1807-19 > Liber Notes (2) Sketchbook [Finberg CLIV ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study or Studies of a Cloudy Sky over Water c.1808-18

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study or Studies of a Cloudy Sky over Water’ c.1808-18
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 21 Verso:
Study or Studies of a Cloudy Sky over Water c.1808–18
D12153
Turner Bequest CLIV a 21a
Pencil on white wove paper, 89 x 112 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Red’ and ‘[?Blue]’ top right, and ‘orange | [?orange Blue] Clouds’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
It is unclear whether the drawing represents a single sky with upper and lower bands of cloud, or two successive views of the same formation. Towards the centre left is a small disk, presumably representing the sun or moon, with a wavy vertical line underneath, below what may be the horizon at the bottom left, perhaps indicating a reflection in water. The drawing continues across folio 22 recto (D40852, a torn stub) and folio 23 recto (D12154; CLIV a 22).
As set out under folio 7 verso (D12134), there are nearly thirty pages of cloud studies in this sketchbook, some annotated with colours, as here, and other observations.

Matthew Imms
September 2013

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Study or Studies of a Cloudy Sky over Water c.1808–18 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-study-or-studies-of-a-cloudy-sky-over-water-r1147569, accessed 19 April 2024.