J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1836-47 Modern painter > Autumn Tour of Northern France 1845 > Dieppe and Kent Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Clouds over the Sea 1845

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Clouds over the Sea’ 1845
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 88 Recto:
?Clouds over the Sea 1845
D35644
Turner Bequest CCCLXI 88
Pencil on white wove paper, 86 x 111 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘88’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCCLXI – 88’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This slight drawing, indicating little that seems recognisable in its own right, appears to complement the sketch of dawn or sunset over the sea on folio 87 verso opposite (D35642), and may show the same clouds on the right. See the sketchbook’s Introduction for the many slight coastal and shipping views and inscribed studies of clouds and the sun over the sea scattered through it.

Matthew Imms
September 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘?Clouds over the Sea 1845 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-clouds-over-the-sea-r1184059, accessed 12 October 2025.