Storm at Sea

c.1822–3

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

License this image

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: D17736
Turner Bequest CCII 17

Catalogue entry

In this drawing Turner captures the churning energy of a storm at sea. A sense of motion is created by the interplay of even fields of translucent wash and vigorous dry brush-strokes representing pockets of atmospheric disturbance. Curving brush-strokes and the pooling and merging of wash suggest the swell of the water. The fluid, swirling aspects of the composition are momentarily counteracted by a bold horizontal band of charcoal grey wash emerging at the right in the central register, probably the profile of a headland in the distance. 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

Read full Catalogue entry