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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > History Painting c.1799-1807 > Studies for Pictures Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Sun and Clouds above a Low Hill c.1799-1802

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sun and Clouds above a Low Hill’ c.1799-1802
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 128 Recto:
Sun and Clouds above a Low Hill c.1799–1802
D04147
Turner Bequest LXIX 129
Ink and gouache on blue laid paper, 135 x 210 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘129’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘LXIX-129’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Drawn with the page turned horizontally, this is perhaps part of a sequence that includes the drawings on folio 106 recto and 127 verso opposite (D04123, D04146; Turner Bequest LXIX 107, 128a). The technique, a bold and fluid pen line with hatching, is to be found in other drawings in this book, for example the figure studies on folios 19 recto–22 recto (D04013–D04016), and in the studies of Stonehenge on folios 79 recto and 80 verso (D04090, D04092).
It is possible, therefore, that this cloudscape was envisaged as part of a historical subject. See also the study of sun and clouds in pencil and white chalk on folio 12 recto (D04006), and those in pencil and white gouache on folios 126 recto and 127 verso opposite (D04144, D04146; Turner Bequest LXIX 127, 128a).

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Sun and Clouds above a Low Hill c.1799–1802 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-sun-and-clouds-above-a-low-hill-r1178027, accessed 23 April 2024.