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 of a Cloudy Sky c.1808-18

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study of a Cloudy Sky’ c.1808-18
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 78 Recto:
Study of a Cloudy Sky c.1808–18
D12238
Turner Bequest CLIV a 77
Pencil on white wove paper, 89 x 112 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Grey’ top left, ‘B’ towards top centre, ‘B [?L]’ centre right, ‘[?Dark w col]’ below and to right of centre, and ‘NE [?Clearing] off of Rain’
Stamped in black ‘CLIV (a) – 77’ top left, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
As set out under folio 7 verso (D12134), there are nearly thirty pages of cloud studies in this sketchbook, some, as here (inverted relative to the foliation), being annotated with colours and other observations.
Technical notes:
There seems to be no sign of John Ruskin’s usual red ink foliation; there are such numbers on most of the earlier pages (see the Introduction to the sketchbook).
There is a small tear at the centre of the left-hand (outer) edge, possibly caused by proximity with the brass clasp on the original cover (since replaced; see the Introduction).

Matthew Imms
September 2013

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Study of a Cloudy Sky 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-of-a-cloudy-sky-r1147656, accessed 26 April 2024.