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 Sunset c.1823-4

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?A Sunset’ c.1823-4
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 21 Recto:
?A Sunset c.1823–4
D17874
Turner Bequest CCV 21
Watercolour on white wove paper, 98 x 162 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘21’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCV – 21’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Finberg described the subject as a ‘Sunset’, though given the monochrome treatment and the quietness of the effect, with a rough white disk reserved to indicate an orb behind clouds, it might equally represent dawn or the moon; compare folios 22 recto and 23 recto (D17876, D17878). This is the first of a sequence of fourteen tonal studies of landscapes and cloudy skies running from about the middle of the sketchbook onwards; for the others and further discussion, see the Introduction.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘?A Sunset 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-sunset-r1172585, accessed 25 April 2024.