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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Western Sky over Hawksworth Moor c.1816-18

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 9 Verso:
The Western Sky over Hawksworth Moor c.1816–18
D11973
Turner Bequest CLI 18a
Pencil on white wove paper, 116 x 182 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Hawksworth Moore | The west sky’ and with numerous colour notes: ‘Blue Orange Brown S[...?]’, ‘Red [...?] orange’, ‘Dark purple Blue’, ‘Lake d. red Light [... ...?]’, ‘Dark red [...]dry Cloud’, ‘Vivd [...?’, ‘Grey’, ‘Green Light’, ‘Brown Indian red | Grey round | [...?] black’, ‘Bright yellow streak of light | dark grey | Ruby cloud | Grey reddish grey’, ‘Silver [...?] green’
Inscribed by an unknown hand in pencil ‘cli’, bottom right
Somewhat darkened by exposure to light, except for a narrow margin at the edges.
The folio detached at some point and subsequently restored.
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This sketch records sunset effect in a dramatically clouded sky, probably as seen from the western end of Otley Chevin, from where there is a clear view looking west towards Hawksworth Moor. Otley Chevin looks out northwards over Wharfedale towards Farnley Hall the home of Turner’s Yorkshire patron, Walter Fawkes. The Aqueduct sketchbook has a similar study (Tate D40714; Turner Bequest CL inside back cover).
As a result of its exhibition at the National Gallery in 1858 the sheet is somewhat darkened by exposure to light, except for a narrow margin at the edges.

David Hill
September 2008

How to cite

David Hill, ‘The Western Sky over Hawksworth Moor c.1816–18 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2008, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-western-sky-over-hawksworth-moor-r1146986, accessed 20 April 2024.