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

In this elementary study Turner has reserved blank areas of white paper and used washes of blue paint to evoke a cloudy sky. It is difficult to tell if this sketch shows only a skyscape or if there is a suggestion of any land featured below. There is a single long stroke of brown paint at the bottom of the page: perhaps Turner was planning to develop the composition further and then thought otherwise.

This page is comparable in appearance and subject matter to the following four pages: folios 48, 49, 50, and 51 (D12496–D12499). Perhaps these sketches were all produced on the same day.

See the sketchbook’s Introduction for general notes on possible locations and dating.

Technical notes:

There is some staining along the edges of the leaf, possibly sustained in the 1928 Tate Gallery flood.

Verso:

Blank, save for blue marks across the top of the page, likely offset from folio 48 recto opposite (D12496).