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 ... > Old London Bridge Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?A Church Spire Reflected in Water, with Storm Clouds c.1823-4

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?A Church Spire Reflected in Water, with Storm Clouds’ c.1823-4
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 32 Recto:
?A Church Spire Reflected in Water, with Storm Clouds c.1823–4
D17888
Turner Bequest CCV 32
Watercolour on white wove paper, 98 x 162 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘32’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCV – 32’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Against the bright gap below lowering clouds on the left, a vertical feature, perhaps a church spire, is silhouetted, and reflected in water in the foreground. The boundary between cloud and landscape becomes indistinguishable towards the right. This is one of a sequence of fourteen monochrome, tonal studies of landscapes and cloudy skies running from about the middle of the sketchbook onwards; for the others and further discussion, see the Introduction.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘?A Church Spire Reflected in Water, with Storm Clouds c.1823–4 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 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-a-church-spire-reflected-in-water-with-storm-clouds-r1172602, accessed 22 September 2024.