Constable's Oil Sketches

Room 88, Constable, Oil Sketches, paintings, galleries

  • Barges on the Stour, with Dedham Church in the distance

    Barges on the Stour, with Dedham Church in the distance, John Constable

    Barges on the Stour, with Dedham Church in the distance
    John Constable (1776-1837)
    about 1811
    Great Britain
    Oil on paper laid on canvas
    26 x 31.1 cm
    Museum no. 325-1888
    Given by Isabel Constable 1888

    This bold oil sketch is one of the earliest to demonstrate the vibrancy and originality of Constable's mature style. The lock gates are probably near Flatford Mill. Constable was very familiar with the barges that carried grain on the River Stour.

  • Brighton Beach, with colliers

    Brighton Beach, with colliers, John Constable

    Brighton Beach, with colliers
    John Constable (1776-1837)
    July 19, 1824
    Great Britain
    Oil on paper
    14.9 x 24.8 cm
    Museum no. 591-1888
    Given by Isabel Constable 1888

    This sketch depicts coal brigs against the sky. Constable sent it to John Fisher, the godfather of his daughter Maria Louisa. It is inscribed: 'My dear Maria's Birthday Your Goddaughter - Very lovely Evening - looking eastward - cliffs & light off a dark grey [?] effect - background - very white and golden light'.

  • Study of Cirrus Clouds, John Constable

    Study of Cirrus Clouds, John Constable

    Study of Cirrus Clouds
    John Constable (1776-1837)
    About 1822
    Oil on paper
    Museum no. 784-1888
    Given by Isabel Constable 1888

    This sketch is inscribed 'cirrus' on the reverse. It shows how Constable had a countryman's understanding of the weather. He also owned a copy of Thomas Forster's Researches about Atmospheric Phaenomena, published in 1815 'with a series of engravings, illustrative of the modifications of the clouds,.

  • Golding Constable's House, East Bergholt

    Golding Constable's House, East Bergholt, John Constable

    Golding Constable's House, East Bergholt
    John Constable (1776-1837)
    about 1811
    Great Britain
    Oil on millboard laid on panel
    18.1 x 50.5 cm
    Museum no. 583-1888
    Given by Isabel Constable 1888

    This panoramic view depicts Constable's birthplace, with East Bergholt church to the left. The family left this house in 1819, and it was later demolished. Constable recalled with delight the scenes where his 'ideas of Landscape were formed' and 'the retrospect of those happy days and years'.

  • Study of the trunk of an elm tree, John Constable

    Study of the trunk of an elm tree, John Constable

    Study of the trunk of an elm tree
    John Constable (1776-1837)
    about 1821
    Britain
    Oil on canvas
    30.6 x 24.8 cm
    Museum no. 786-1888
    Given by Isabel Constable 1888

    Constable probably painted this remarkable sketch in Hampstead. Its uncompromising realism has an almost photographic quality. The artist's friend and biographer C. R. Leslie recalled: 'I have seen him admire a fine tree with an ecstasy of delight like that with which he would catch up a beautiful child in his arms'.

  • Study of clouds, John Constable

    Study of clouds, John Constable

    Study of clouds
    John Constable (1776-1837)
    5 September 1822
    Great Britain
    Oil on paper
    29.8 x 48.3 cm
    Museum no. 590-1888
    Given by Isabel Constable 1888

    In October 1822 Constable wrote that he had made 'about 50 carefull studies of skies tolerably large'. This one is inscribed on the reverse: 'looking S.E. noon. Wind very brisk. & effect bright & fresh. Clouds. moving very fast. With occasional very bright openings to the blue'.

  • The Grove, or Admiral's House

    The Grove, or Admiral's House, Hampstead, John Constable

    The Grove, or Admiral's House, Hampstead
    John Constable (1776-1837)
    1821-1822
    Great Britain
    Oil on paper laid on canvas
    245x 29.2cm
    Museum no.137-1888
    Given by Isabel Constable 1888

    Constable painted this from the upper window of his house at 2 Lower Terrace. It depicts a property remodelled by a retired admiral. He called the main roof his quarterdeck and celebrated special occasions by firing cannons in salute. Ten years later Constable exhibited a painting of this subject titled 'A Romantic House at Hampstead'.

  • Landscape with a double rainbow, John Constable

    Landscape with a double rainbow, John Constable

    Landscape with a double rainbow
    John Constable (1776-1837)
    28 July 1812
    Great Britain
    Oil on paper laid on canvas
    45 x 50 cm framed
    Museum no. 328-1888
    Given by Isabel Constable 1888

    Constable was fascinated by rainbows and highly knowledgeable about 'this most beautiful Phenomenon of Light'. They frequently appear in his later works. This was one of a group of three oil sketches sold at auction in 1838 for £55s.

  • Dedham Vale, John Constable

    Dedham Vale, John Constable

    Dedham Vale
    John Constable (1776-1837)
    1802
    Great Britain
    Oil on canvas
    43.5 x 34.4 cm
    Museum no. 124-1888
    Given by Isabel Constable, daughter of the artist

    Unusually for Constable, this study is based upon the work of another artist. Its model was Hagar and the Angel of 1646 by the French painter Claude Lorrain. Constable esteemed Claude as 'the most perfect landscape painter the world ever saw'.

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