In 1826, C.W. Eckersberg (1783–1853) executed his first cloud studies, most likely inspired by the Norwegian painter Johan Christian Dahl (1788–1857). The same year, Eckersberg began writing his meteorological diaries, where every day he meticulously registered his weather observations. This can be seen as a natural extension of his great interest in science, including not only meteorology, but also the teachings on perspective and, by extension, the belief in an underlying divine order, as well as his interest in the naturalist study of nature – the plein air painting.

Many other Danish Golden Age painters quickly followed the trend of the time and in the footsteps of Eckersberg's example as they dived headfirst into making their own cloud studies.

As described in the above catalogue, the cloud study itself fits well with the ideas of the time “[…] by on the one hand being conditioned by the artist's empirical studies and the notion of a series of natural laws, among other things by noting time, place, temperature, weather and types of clouds, and on the other hand being driven by a fascination with the infiniteness of the sky, the formlessness of the clouds and ultimately the divine […].” (Gertrud Hvidberg-Hansen, “Himlen nær. Skystudier og naturpoesi”, p. 71).

For a 'Cloud Study' by Chr. Købke see cat. no. 10.

The present study by P.C. Skovgaard with its precise date: 'Tu[esday] 11 June 1844' and possibly also the time: '3' – engraved in the wet paint gives a fine impression of the careful registration done with the cloud study mentioned above. It shows how Skovgaard, by working quickly, was able to portray a snapshot of the sky and the weather on a given day at a given time.

Several comparable cloud studies by P.C. Skovgaard can be seen in the catalogue “Himlens spejl. Skyer og vejrlig i dansk maleri 1770–1880".

Karina Lykke Grand writes about Skovgaard's cloud studies in “P. C. Skovgaard. The Danish Golden Age Revisited”, 2010: “Skovgaard's many cloud studies can be seen as an artistic, visual challenge and a task that pushes him to constantly improve his skills by having to capture what is changeable and atmospheric, in pictorial form, […]. It's probably hard because the clouds constantly change appearance. They blow away, change shape, grow, diminish, reappear and disappear again, but this transforming aspect is precisely what fascinates Skovgaard. In letters written by Skovgaard from his period of study during the summer, remarks about the sky and the clouds are recurring topics, as the nature of the weather is of great importance for whether or not Skovgaard can work outdoors. Skovgaard is thus exclusively a plein air painter when he makes studies and drawings for the coming winter's landscape paintings, and if the weather is too bad, the work is made more difficult.” (pp. 282–283).

It is very rare to see a cloud study not laid on canvas or cardboard, as is the case with this work, which is due to the fact that it has been in the ownership of the artist's family until today and never been for sale before.