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 ... > Skies Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study of a Cloudy Sky above the Sea c.1818

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study of a Cloudy Sky above the Sea’ c.1818
Folio 33 Recto:
Study of a Cloudy Sky above the Sea c.1818
D12481
Turner Bequest CLVIII 33
Watercolour on white wove paper, 125 x 247 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘33’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLVIII – 33’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The upper half of this barely developed composition features heavy grey clouds. The short erratic brushstrokes in the lower half of the composition may serve to evoke choppy water. If so, then perhaps this is another study of the sky above the sea, comparable to the rectos of folios 9 and 23 (D12457, D12471).
See the sketchbook’s Introduction for general notes on possible locations and dating.
Technical notes:
There is some staining visible in the upper right-hand corner of the leaf, possibly sustained during the 1928 Tate Gallery flood.
Verso:
Blank

Caitlin Doley
July 2024

How to cite

Caitlin Doley, ‘Study of a Cloudy Sky above the Sea c.1818’, catalogue entry, July 2024, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, October 2024, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/study-of-a-cloudy-sky-above-the-sea-r1208905, accessed 02 April 2026.