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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Ports of England c.1822-8 > Ports of England Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Storm c.1822-3

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Storm’ c.1822-3
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 7 Recto
A Storm c.1822–3
D17726
Turner Bequest CCII 7
Watercolour on white wove paper, 257 x 178 mm
Watermarked ‘J wha | 18’
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘7’ bottom right
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCII–7’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Here Turner captures an oppressive and expansive sky with sombre low-lying cumuli hanging heavy with rain. The plane of dark slate grey representing the sea below is saturated with wash, allowing the pigments to pool, bleed, and feather into a band of grey-green wash at the bottom of the sheet. These technical effects evoke the all-encompassing wetness of the atmosphere. For examples of similar handling in sky studies see Turner’s Old London Bridge sketchbook of 1823–4 (Tate D17883, D17887; Turner Bequest CCV 28, 31).
Verso:
Blank

Alice Rylance-Watson
March 2013

How to cite

Alice Rylance-Watson, ‘A Storm c.1822–3 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 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-a-storm-r1148296, accessed 24 April 2024.