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 ... > Thames Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Cloudy Sky, ?with a Sailing Boat at Sea c.1825

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Cloudy Sky, ?with a Sailing Boat at Sea’ c.1825
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 3 Recto:
A Cloudy Sky, ?with a Sailing Boat at Sea c.1825
D18598
Turner Bequest CCXII 3
Pencil on white wove paper, 114 x 188 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Dark Grey Shade’ top left, ‘Blue’, ‘Yelow’ (sic) and ‘Shade’ towards top left, and ‘Yellow with [?Ed...]’ below centre
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘3’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCXII – 3’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
While the pencil cloud study here, with its various annotations concerning colour and light, was no doubt observed directly, the setting is less clear. There seem to be indications of the sea and perhaps a beach, with the tilting sails of a boat towards the right. In August 1825 Turner was abroad in the Low Countries, and it is possible that some of the studies on nearby pages were made while travelling, although others show the familiar scene from the top of Richmond Hill (see the Introduction).

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Cloudy Sky, ?with a Sailing Boat at Sea c.1825 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-cloudy-sky-with-a-sailing-boat-at-sea-r1172715, accessed 26 April 2024.