Joseph Mallord William Turner

Sea and Sky

c.1845

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Medium: Watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 236 × 314 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D35950
Turner Bequest CCCLXIV 107

Display caption

This sketch is part of a sequence of at least five watercolours, executed in the same range of leon and orange, which focus on a sunset seen from a beach. A wooden groyne runs down to the sea on the left-hand side in this and another study in te group. These works may have been made on one of Turner's visits to Margate, but it is not clear if they were sketched from the motif, or whether Turner was simply experimenting with his colours, relying on his memory for the glorious sunset.

Gallery label, August 2004

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Catalogue entry

This is one of a large number of sketches on loose sheets of paper depicting coastal terrain and seagoing vessels in various combinations. For the grouping and dating of these works to the middle and later periods of Turner’s career, see the section introduction.

Technical Notes:

Light brown marks across sheet. There are yellow spots in centre of page, perhaps caused by drops of water.

Verso:

Pencil note reading ‘ccclxiv’. Stamped in black with the Turner Beques monogram and ‘CCCLXIV – 107’.

John Chu
June 2015

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