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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1836-47 Modern painter > Autumn Tour of Northern France 1845 > Dieppe and Kent Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Clouds over the Sea 1845

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Clouds over the Sea’ 1845
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 4 Verso:
Clouds over the Sea 1845
D35494
Turner Bequest CCCLXI 4a
Pencil on white wove paper, 86 x 111 mm
Partial watermark ‘King | 1842’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[...]’ towards top centre and towards top right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, this study appears to include brief colour or tone notes among the cursive cloud forms. The scene may closely precede or succeed the two studies of the sun breaking through over the sea on folios 3 verso and 4 recto (D35492–D35493). See the sketchbook’s Introduction for the many slight coastal views and inscribed studies of clouds and the sun over the sea scattered through it.
Technical notes:
There is some brown staining at the edge, possibly indicating water damage in the 1928 Tate flood.

Matthew Imms
September 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Clouds over the Sea 1845 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-clouds-over-the-sea-r1183919, accessed 13 May 2024.