Watercolor, graphite, and scratching out on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 9 1/8 x 11 3/8 inches (23.2 x 28.9 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed in graphite, verso, upper center: "B 2"
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.4717
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
clouds | clouds | marine art | marine art | steamboat | steamboats | lake | smoke | movement | air | science | meteorology | technology | rain | lightning | wind | storm
Associated Places:
United Kingdom | Hebrides, Sea of the | Hebrides | Scotland | Europe | Lucerne, Lake
Currently On View:
On view
Exhibition History:
J.M.W. Turner: Romance & Reality (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-03-29 - 2025-07-27)Unto this Last: Two Hundred Years of John Ruskin (Yale Center for British Art, 2019-09-05 - 2019-12-08)An American's Passion for British Art - Paul Mellon's Legacy (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)An American's Passion for British Art - Paul Mellon's Legacy (Royal Academy of Arts, 2007-10-20 - 2008-01-27)Paul Mellon's Legacy : A Passion for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)Behold the Sea (Yale Center for British Art, 2003-06-14 - 2003-09-07)Turner 1996 (National Gallery of Australia, 1996-03-17 - 1996-06-10)Turner 1996 (National Gallery of Victoria, 1996-06-23 - 1996-09-09)Turner and the Sublime (Yale Center for British Art, 1981-02-11 - 1981-04-19)Turner and the Sublime (British Museum, 1981-05-15 - 1981-09-20)Turner and the Sublime (Art Gallery of Ontario, 1980-11-01 - 1981-01-04)English Landscape (Paul Mellon Collection) 1630-1850 (Yale Center for British Art, 1977-04-19 - 1977-07-17)
Publications:
Timothy J. Barringer, Unto this last : two hundred years of John Ruskin, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2019, p. 205, no. 42, NJ18.R895 .B37 2019 (LC) Oversize (YCBA)John Baskett, Paul Mellon's Legacy: a Passion for British Art: Masterpieces from the Yale Center for British Art, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, pp. 285-286, no. 93, pl. 93, N5220 M552 P38 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Michael Lloyd, Turner, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1996, pp. 52, 235, no. 85, NJ18 T85 L57 1996 + (YCBA)Paul Mellon's Legacy : a passion for British art [large print labels], , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, v. 2, no. 93, N5220 M552 P381 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)William S. Rodner, J.M.W. Turner : Romantic painter of the Industrial Revolution, , University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 1997, p. 45, ND497 T85 R63 1997 (YCBA)Simon Schama, The Yale Centre for British Art, TLS, the Times Literary Supplement, , May 20, 1977, p. 620, TLS Historical ArchiveTony Smibert, Turner's Apprentice : a watercolour class, Thames and Hudson, 2020, p. 35r, NJ18.T85 S65 2020 Oversize (YCBA)Andrew Wilton, The life and work of J.M.W. Turner, Academy Editions, London, 1979, p. 478, no. 1484, NJ18 T85 +W577 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Andrew Wilton, Turner and the sublime, British Museum Publications, London, 1980, pp. 183-184, no. 113, NJ18 T85 W579 OVERSIZE (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
This iridescent, delicately toned watercolor’s setting is believed to be Lake Lucerne, where Turner spent many hours observing changing weather conditions. A band of blue-black rain clouds curves across the center of the image, while faint vertical brushstrokes evoke the downpour. A lightning flash — a figurative and literal gash in the surface of the paper — confirms the violence of the breaking storm. But the real focus of the image is the steamboat. A source of fascination to the artist, it is often interpreted as a symbol of modernity and human ingenuity. Here, however, it appears strangely vulnerable as it heads into the dark waters, the black smoke from its funnel drifting tentatively skyward. Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)