Joseph Mallord William Turner

A Storm

c.1822–3

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Ports of England Sketchbook
Medium
Watercolour on paper
Dimensions
Support: 257 × 178 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D17726
Turner Bequest CCII 7

Catalogue entry

Here Turner captures an oppressive and expansive sky with sombre low-lying cumuli hanging heavy with rain. The plane of dark slate grey representing the sea below is saturated with wash, allowing the pigments to pool, bleed, and feather into a band of grey-green wash at the bottom of the sheet. These technical effects evoke the all-encompassing wetness of the atmosphere. For examples of similar handling in sky studies see Turner’s Old London Bridge sketchbook of 1823–4 (Tate D17883, D17887; Turner Bequest CCV 28, 31).
Verso:
Blank

Alice Rylance-Watson
March 2013

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