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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study of a Cloudy Sky c.1808-18

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 7 Verso:
Study of a Cloudy Sky c.1808–18
D12134
Turner Bequest CLIV a 7a
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 89 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?blue]’ top left and ‘[?R... Lighting] clouds | op the Sun’ towards bottom left, ascending diagonally
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The majority of drawings in this sketchbook, nearly thirty pages, are devoted to studies of cloudy skies, including some double-page sketches. This is the first, made with the page turned vertically, with others on folios 10 recto, 21 verso–22 recto–23 recto, 47 verso, 57 recto, 57 verso–58 recto, 58 verso, 63 verso, 64 recto, 66 verso, 67 recto, 69 recto, 70 verso–71 verso–72 recto, 72 verso–73 recto, 73 verso–74 recto, 74 verso–75 recto, 75 verso, 76 recto and verso, 77 recto and verso, and 78 recto (D12137, D12153–D40852D12154, D12187, D12200, D12201–D12203, D12210, D12211, D12216, D12217, D12221, D12224–D12238; CLIV a 10, 21a, 22, 46a, 56, 56a–57, 57a, 62a, 63, 65a, 66, 68, 69a–70a–71, 71a–72, 72a–73, 73a–74, 74a, 75, 75a, 76, 76a, 77). Some, as in this case, are annotated with colours and other observations.
Technical notes:
There is an irregular, pale brown stain affecting most of the page, mirrored on folio 8 recto opposite (D12135), as well as localised brown spotting towards the top, where the drawing is rather rubbed.

Matthew Imms
September 2013

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Study of a Cloudy Sky c.1808–18 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-study-of-a-cloudy-sky-r1147550, accessed 28 March 2024.