Wash drawing of trees and a stretch of water on the Stour, by John Constable

A pencil and sepia wash drawing depicting trees along a stretch of the river Stour under a dark, cloudy sky. The brushwork is dashing and almost abstract.

Given by Isabel Constable, daughter of the artist

This is one of a pair of wash drawings done between 1832-1836 of stretches of the Stour; the other (249-1888) depicts Dedham Church and is slightly less abstract.

Historical significance: This drawing was probably a studio composition, a departure from Constable's usual method of sketching from nature.

‘In 1836 Constable's two exhibits at the Royal Academy were the 'Cenotaph to the memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds' (now in the Tate Gallery, No. 1272) and the watercolour 'Stonehenge' (No. 395 [1629-1888]). He gave four lectures on 'The History of Landscape Painting' at the Royal Institution in May and June of this year and his last lecture, at Hampstead, on 25 July. Constable died on 31 March 1837. His almost completed painting 'Arundel Mill and Castle' (now in the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio; see No. 379 [260-1888]) was exhibited posthumously at the Royal Academy.’

[G Reynolds, 1973, p. 233]

In Constable's last years, his sketches became increasingly expressionistic; these were clearly never intended for exhibition.

Some of Constable's late drawings seem to reflect his dark and wildly fluctuating mood: his wife, Maria, died in 1828, a loss from which he never really recovered. This expressionistic scene of the River Stour under a stormy sky, probably done in the studio, departs from his usual practice of sketching from nature. The loose, almost abstract rendering of the scene indicates that Constable never intended it to be exhibited; such expressionism would have been unacceptable for public display.

250-1888