Joseph Mallord William Turner

Sea-Piece and Stormy Sky

c.1822–3

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Ports of England Sketchbook
Medium
Watercolour on paper
Dimensions
Support: 257 x 178 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D17728
Turner Bequest CCII 9

Catalogue entry

In this drawing Turner captures the churning energy of a storm at sea. The elliptical shape of the sky evokes the force of wind stirring the clouds. A sense of motion is created by the interplay of fields of translucent wash contrasted with vigorous dry brush-strokes representing pockets of atmospheric disturbance. The surge and swell of the water is suggested instantly by a few curving, roughly hewn brush-strokes.
Verso:
Blank

Alice Rylance-Watson
March 2013

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