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 Windswept Sky c.1818

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study of a Windswept Sky’ c.1818
Folio 34 Recto:
Study of a Windswept Sky c.1818
D12482
Turner Bequest CLVIII 34
Watercolour on white wove paper, 125 x 247 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘34’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLVIII – 34’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
In this minimal composition Turner has used a series of delicate diagonal lines to suggest feathery clouds that could potentially be identified as cirrus, being formed and pushed along by wind currents.
See the sketchbook’s Introduction for general notes on possible locations and dating.
Technical notes:
There is some staining visible along the right-hand side of the leaf, possibly sustained during the 1928 Tate Gallery flood. There are also some spots of grey watercolour in the upper right-hand corner, seemingly unrelated to the composition.
Verso:
Blank

Caitlin Doley
July 2024

How to cite

Caitlin Doley, ‘Study of a Windswept Sky 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-windswept-sky-r1208906, accessed 02 April 2026.