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

A small whale boat can be seen in the foreground, its crew sketched hastily in brown chalk, while the larger whaling vessel to which the smaller boat belongs is seen anchored behind. As in other sketches in the Whalers book Turner describes adverse weather conditions, evoked here by the sweeps of black watercolour – a downpour – scattered across the sky and the flash of lightning in white chalk at the left; the extreme tilt of the whaling ship also suggests a high wind. These weather conditions mirror the drama and danger of the whalers’ task as they chase and seek to harpoon their prey.

Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll have noted Barry Venning’s suggestion1 that this drawing contains the main elements of Turner’s painting, Whalers, exhibited in 1845 (Tate N00545);2 there is an evident parallel between the two. More recently, Alison Hokanson3 has also linked the sketch with Turner’s other 1845 Whalers painting(Metropolitan Museum, New York).4

Technical Notes:

In common with others in this sketchbook, the leaf is loose of its binding. Spots of the pigment used to prepare the ground have formed; this is particularly prominent in the upper area of the page and likely to be the result of damage in the Tate Gallery flood of 1928.

Verso:

Blank; some discolouration and offsetting in black chalk.