Head in the Clouds

New this week, a vivid collection of miniature mid-19th-century sketches in watercolour and bodycolour on blue paper after Masters such as Turner, Constable, Gainsborough and Rembrandt.

The use of bodycolour on blue paper is undoubtedly inspired by Turner, who experimented with opaque gouache on coloured papers to break free from tradition and create dazzling effects. This was clearly an artist keen to learn from the Masters, and someone who sketched at South Kensington and the National Gallery, where the Turner Bequest was held at this time.

In researching these works my mental digressions included the classification of clouds and the contemporary controversy of the term 'Old Master'. Never a dull day in the world of dealing 19th-century works on paper.