Harwich: the seashore and lighthouse
Drawing
ca. 1815 (drawn)
ca. 1815 (drawn)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This atmospheric drawing of the misty, windswept seashore at Harwich was the sketch for the oil painting Harwich: Sea and Lighthouse which Constable probably exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1820 (now in Tate Britain). However, there has been some debate about when exactly he made the sketch. Constable's handwriting was difficult to read and his spelling idiosyncratic. While the inscription on the lower right was once thought to read '1815', the last figure in the date is now illegible.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Harwich: the seashore and lighthouse (popular title) |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil and paper |
| Brief description | Drawing, Harwich: the seashore and lighthouse, by John Constable, pencil on paper, 1815 |
| Physical description | Drawing showing a small wooden lighthouse on the seashore with a few scattered figures. Two ships are visible in the distance, on calm water. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | 'Harwich 22d Augst 181[5?]' (Inscribed below on right by the artist. The last figure of the date is now illegible, but was read as '5' when the drawing was received by the Museum Inventory of Art Objects 1888>/i>.) |
| Credit line | Given by Isabel Constable, daughter of the artist |
| Object history | This drawing was the sketch for the oil painting Harwich: Sea and Lighthouse (Tate Gallery, no. 1726), which was perhaps exhibited at the Royal Academy as No. 148 in 1820. |
| Historical context | In 1815 Constable exhibited five paintings and three drawings at the Royal Academy, including 'Boat-building' (No. 137). His mother died early this year and he was in Suffolk in May. He left London again for Suffolk on 6 July and remained there most of the year, being detained during December by his father's serious illness. [G Reynolds, 1973, p. 106] |
| Production | The last figure of the date on the inscription is now illegible, but was read as 5 when the drawing was received by the Museum. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Places depicted | |
| Summary | This atmospheric drawing of the misty, windswept seashore at Harwich was the sketch for the oil painting Harwich: Sea and Lighthouse which Constable probably exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1820 (now in Tate Britain). However, there has been some debate about when exactly he made the sketch. Constable's handwriting was difficult to read and his spelling idiosyncratic. While the inscription on the lower right was once thought to read '1815', the last figure in the date is now illegible. |
| Bibliographic reference | Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973, pp. 106, 108, 109 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 302-1888 |
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| Record created | September 22, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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