On the edge of a wood

Physical description

Figures next to a wood under a cloudy sky.

Place of Origin

England, Great Britain (made)

Date

ca. 1825 (made)

Artist/maker

John Constable, born 1776 - died 1837 (artist)

Materials and Techniques

Oil on paper

Dimensions

Height: 16.5 cm estimate, Width: 30.1 cm estimate

Object history note

Given by Isabel Constable, 1888

Historical context note

'Constable was elected R.A. on 10 February 1829. He exhibited 'Hadleigh Castle' (now in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon; see No. 127 [D.234-1888] in this Catalogue) and a landscape of a "rich cottage". He paid his last two visits to Fisher at Salisbury, in July and in November. His preparations for English Landscape Scenery got under way in this year: the earliest letter on the subject to Lucas printed by Shirley (S.: L., p. 20) is dated 28 August 1829.'

[G Reynolds, 1973, p.190]

Descriptive line

Oil sketch, 'On the edge of a wood' by Constable.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973, pp. 190, 197-198
The following is an extract from the text of the entry:
"Holmes, p. 249, dates c. 1829. The implied comparison with the Salisbury sketches of that year (Nos. 311, 312 and 320) may be taken as the best basis available for the dating of this sketch. Some features however recall the technique of 'The Grove, Hampstead' (Tate Gallery, No. 1246) to which the date of 1832 is assigned (Davies, p. 27)."

Exhibition History

Turner and Constable and their European Contemporaries (Statens Museum fur Kunst, Copenhagen 04/09/2004-09/01/2005)

Materials

Paper; Oil paint

Techniques

Oil painting

Subjects depicted

Clouds; Woods

Categories

Paintings

Collection code

PDP