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 an Overcast Sky c.1818

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study of an Overcast Sky’ c.1818
Folio 62 Recto:
Study of an Overcast Sky c.1818
D12512
Turner Bequest CLVIII 62
Watercolour on white wove paper, 125 x 247 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘62’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLVIII – 62’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
On this page Turner has used washes of various shades of grey to evoke a roiling, overcast sky.
It is difficult to discern if these heavy clouds are passing above water or land. This page is comparable to the preceding one, folio 61 recto (D12510); perhaps Turner produced the works on the same grey day.
See the sketchbook’s Introduction for general notes on possible locations and dating.
The verso, with an unrelated pencil sketch, is D12513.
Technical notes:
There is some staining visible along the very edges of the leaf, possibly caused by water damage sustained during the 1928 Tate flood.

Caitlin Doley
July 2024

How to cite

Caitlin Doley, ‘Study of an Overcast 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-an-overcast-sky-r1208936, accessed 18 May 2025.