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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Colour Studies of the Sun, Skies and ... > Colour Studies of Clouds, Storms and a ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Heavy Clouds above a Landscape c.1820-40

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Heavy Clouds above a Landscape’ c.1820-40
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Heavy Clouds above a Landscape c.1820–40
D25193
Turner Bequest CCLXIII 71
Watercolour on white wove paper, 305 x 505 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘71’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLXIII – 71’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Heavy grey clouds billow over an indeterminate landscape, possibly of hills or coastal sand dunes. The diagonal strokes at the centre presumably indicate rain emanating from the darkest part of the cloud. Compare Tate D25271 (Turner Bequest CCLXIII 149).
Technical notes:
Three pale streaks across the grey area to the right may indicate slight surface damage.
Verso:
Blank; inscribed by John Ruskin ‘AB 150 P | O’ top left, upside down; inscribed in pencil ‘CCLXIII. 71’ bottom right; stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram over ‘CCLXIII – 71’ bottom left.

Matthew Imms
March 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Heavy Clouds above a Landscape c.1820–40 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-heavy-clouds-above-a-landscape-r1183147, accessed 25 April 2024.