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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Two Studies of Clouds c.1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 34 Recto:
Two Studies of Clouds c.1819
D13802
Turner Bequest CLXIX 34
Pencil on white wove paper, 87 x 119 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Red’ clouds’ and ‘Blue’ top centre, ‘29 May | E’ top right, and ‘Cold’, ‘Cold light’ and ‘Blue’ successively left of centre
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘34’ bottom right (faint and smudged)
Stamped in black ‘CLXIX – 34’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Finberg bracketed this page with folio 33 verso opposite (D13801) as if to imply the two were continuous, but they are separate though similar studies. The main study here is supplemented by a smaller one at the bottom right, perhaps made later on the same occasion, loosely framed with horizontal and vertical pencil strokes. The ‘E’ following the unusually specific date (assuming the latter relates to the sketch) may indicate an eastwards view or perhaps evening as the time of day. For other cloud studies, see the sketchbook’s Introduction.

Matthew Imms
September 2013

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Two Studies of Clouds c.1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2013, 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-two-studies-of-clouds-r1147525, accessed 10 April 2024.