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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > First Italian Tour 1819-20 > Naples, Paestum and Rome Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Five Landscape Sketches with Weather Effects 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Five Landscape Sketches with Weather Effects’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 60 Recto:
Five Landscape Sketches with Weather Effects 1819
D16024
Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 58
Pencil on white wove paper, 189 x 113 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘Rain comes on’, ‘Blue W’ and ‘Fog under the Trees’ within top sketch. Also ‘Blue’, ‘[?warm]’, and ‘Sky Light’ within third sketch from top
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in red ink ‘58’ top left, ascending left-hand edge and ‘245’ top right, ascending right-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXVI 58’ top right, ascending right-hand edge
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The locations represented within these five landscape sketches remain unidentified, although they were probably drawn from the road travelling through the hilly countryside to the south-east of Rome. The bottom two vistas appear to depict a medieval tower. The main focus of interest, however, is the effects of weather and light within the scenery. The upper three studies in particular represent the onset of a rain shower and the artist has annotated the sequence with written notes regarding colour and atmospheric conditions.

Nicola Moorby
July 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Five Landscape Sketches with Weather Effects 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-five-landscape-sketches-with-weather-effects-r1137948, accessed 26 April 2024.