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 Sea-Piece and Stormy Sky c.1822-3

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sea-Piece and Stormy Sky’ c.1822-3
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 9 Recto
Sea-Piece and Stormy Sky c.1822–3
D17728
Turner Bequest CCII 9
Watercolour on white wove paper, 257 x 178 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘9’ bottom right
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCII–9’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
In this drawing Turner captures the churning energy of a storm at sea. The elliptical shape of the sky evokes the force of wind stirring the clouds. A sense of motion is created by the interplay of fields of translucent wash contrasted with vigorous dry brush-strokes representing pockets of atmospheric disturbance. The surge and swell of the water is suggested instantly by a few curving, roughly hewn brush-strokes.
Verso:
Blank

Alice Rylance-Watson
March 2013

How to cite

Alice Rylance-Watson, ‘Sea-Piece and Stormy Sky 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-sea-piece-and-stormy-sky-r1148298, accessed 24 April 2024.