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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Thames, London and South of England 1821 ... > Old London Bridge Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Tree with a Broken Branch; a Study of a Cloudy Sky c.1823-4

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Tree with a Broken Branch; a Study of a Cloudy Sky’ c.1823-4
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 5 Recto:
A Tree with a Broken Branch; a Study of a Cloudy Sky c.1823–4
D17842
Turner Bequest CCV 5
Pencil on white wove paper, 162 x 98 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Beautifull’ towards bottom right, descending vertically
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘5’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCV – 5’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned vertically, Turner has drawn a single tree, with a broken branch hanging down. To the right of it, inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, is a study of a cloudy sky with either a sunbeam or the arc of a rainbow on the left, an effect which the artist has labelled with a characteristic ‘Beautifull’. For other skies, see the entry for the inside of the front cover (D40961).
The setting for both subjects may have been the Richmond upon Thames area, as seen on previous pages; see the Introduction.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Tree with a Broken Branch; a Study of a Cloudy Sky c.1823–4 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-tree-with-a-broken-branch-a-study-of-a-cloudy-sky-r1172553, accessed 24 April 2024.