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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Isle of Wight 1827 > Cowes Regatta Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Seascape with a Cloudy Sky; a Coastal Fort 1827

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Seascape with a Cloudy Sky; a Coastal Fort’ 1827
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 38 Recto:
A Seascape with a Cloudy Sky; a Coastal Fort 1827
D18062
Turner Bequest CCVII 38
Pencil on white wove paper, 100 x 74 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[?Blue]’ top left and ‘Blue’ towards top centre
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘38’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCVII – 38’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned vertically, there are two studies here. At the top, there appears to be a boat or boats sailing on the left, possibly with a headland beyond, under a sky dense with cloud but with occasional patches of blue, as Turner notes. Below is a small, castellated fort, apparently overlooking a beach, probably on the Isle of Wight or on the South Coast of the mainland.
For more on studies in this sketchbook relating to the regatta events at Cowes on the Isle of Wight from late July 1827 onwards, see the sketchbook Introduction.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Seascape with a Cloudy Sky; a Coastal Fort 1827 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, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-seascape-with-a-cloudy-sky-a-coastal-fort-r1183550, accessed 25 April 2024.