Joseph Mallord William Turner

Clouds above Water at Dawn or Sunset

c.1820–40

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Colour Studies of the Sun and Clouds at Dawn and Sunset
Medium: Watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 306 × 487 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D25476
Turner Bequest CCLXIII 353

Catalogue entry

The pale blue and pink tints of the clouds and sky suggest sunset, as Finberg thought, or perhaps more likely dawn, reflected in a sheet of open water.

Technical notes:

The sheet is much yellowed from prolonged exposure while on display; the fresher, cooler colours Turner intended are evident to the left and right where the edges were formerly protected by a mount.

Verso:

Blank; no inscriptions. There are slight marks resembling a cat’s paw prints; such animals reportedly roamed Turner’s house and studio 1 (compare the verso of Tate D25258; Turner Bequest CCLXIII 136).

Matthew Imms
March 2016

See for example James Hamilton, Turner: A Life, London 1997, p.304.

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