Physical description
Landscape view with trees, reflected in the water.
Place of Origin
Salisbury, England (painted)
Date
1820 or 1829 (painted)
Artist/maker
John Constable, born 1776 - died 1837 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Height: 45.7 cm estimate, Width: 55.3 cm estimate, Height: 595 mm framed, Width: 700 mm framed, Depth: 60 mm framed
Object history note
Given by John Sheepshanks, 1857
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, 'Water-meadows near Salisbury', Constable, 19th century.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Parris, Leslie and Ian Fleming-Williams, Constable London : The Tate Gallery, 1991. ISBN 1854370707 / 1854370715. 544 p. : ill. (some col.).
Exhibition catalogue
Morris, Edward, ed. Constable's Clouds: Paintings and Cloud Studies by John Constable , Edinburgh : National Galleries of Scotland ; Liverpool : National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, c2000. 176 p. : ill. (some col.). ISBN 1903278058 (paperback), 1903278066 (hardback).
Exhibition catalogue
Graham Reynolds, Catalogue of the Constable Collection, London: HMSO, 1973, cat. no. 321
The following is an extract from the text of the entry:
"The canvas has been relined at an unknown date.
This is the painting by Constable which came before the Council of the Academy and was rejected, although it should have been hung without scrutiny, since Constable was then an Academician. Whitley (Art in England,1821-1837, p. 188) assigns the incident, apparently on the authority of Anderdon, to the year 1830. Constable was taking an active part on the Council in that year, as a newly elected Academician, and was one of the three members of the Hanging Committee for the exhibition. The date of 1830 for the incident is consistent with the supposition, which is justified on stylistic grounds, that the painting was made on Constable's last visit to Salisbury in 1829. Holmes, p. 245, dates the picture 1820, but does not notice that Constable could not have been on the committee for selecting the exhibition before his appointment as an Academician in 1829. Whitley quotes Anderdon's version of the incident of the picture's rejection, which he had from Leslie. Richard Redgrave noted a version of the story in his diary entry for 30 April 1866 (printed in Richard Redgrave, A Memoir by F. M. Redgrave, 1891, pp. 284-5). Redgrave's informant was F. R. Lee, but he cannot have been present when the episode occurred, as he was not elected an Academician until 1838. Frith's account is the liveliest and, though it is probably embellished, the fact that its source was Abraham Cooper, who served with Constable on the Hanging Committee in 1830, gives it some authority: "When Constable was a member of the selecting Council, a small landscape was brought to judgment; it was not received with favour. The first judge said, 'That's a poor thing'; the next muttered, 'It's very green'; in short, the picture had to stand the fire of animadversion from everybody but Constable, the last remark being, 'It's devilish bad-cross it'. Constable rose, took a couple of steps in front, turned round, and faced the Council. 'That picture,' said he, 'was painted by me. I have a notion that some of you didn't like my work, and this is a pretty convincing proof. I am very much obliged to you', making a low bow. 'Dear, dear!' said the President [Shee] to the head-carpenter, 'how came that picture amongst the outsiders? Bring it back; it must be admitted, of course.' 'No! it must not!' said Constable; 'out it goes!' and, in spite of apology and entreaty, out it went. This story was told me by Cooper, who witnessed the scene". (W. P. Frith, My Autobiography and Reminiscences, Vol. I, 1887, pp. 237-8.)
No. 321 [FA 38] was sold as Lot 50, 'Salisbury Meadows; painted from nature' at the Executors' sale, 16 May 1838, bought on behalf of John Sheepshanks for £35 14s. by Smith of Gower Street. Anderdon wished to buy it and told Leslie "I had been bidding on from ten pounds, hoping to walk off with such a prize, when I heard some one whisper- 'Why Sheepshanks is bidding'. I was then the last bidder, but I gave way at once to a competitor with such a long purse". "You would never have got it in any case", replied Leslie. "I have tried in vain to obtain it, and have offered in exchange to paint for Sheepshanks anything he liked. But I can't shake him. He clings to it all the more, because he knows it was thrown out by the Academy Council as 'a nasty green thing' " (Whitley, loc. cit., p. 189). Redgrave confirms Leslie's admiration for the picture: "Of this picture Leslie, who had an intense admiration of Constable's art, once said to me that he would give any work he (Leslie) had painted for it, so warmly did he admire it" (Redgrave, loc. cit., p. 285)."
Evans, M., with N. Costaras and C. Richardson, John Constable. Oil Sketches from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London: V&A, 2011, p. 31, fig. 27.
Timothy Wilcox, Constable and Salisbury. The Soul of Landscape London: Scala Publishers Ltd, 2011. ISBN: 978 1 85759 678 6.
Exhibition catalogue
Exhibition History
John Constable's Paintings of Salisbury and its environs (The King's House, Salisbury 20/05/2011-25/09/2011)
Constable: a breath of fresh air (The Millennium Galleries, Sheffield 08/02/2003-27/04/2003)
John Constable, selected by Lucian Freud (Grand Palais 10/10/2002-13/01/2003)
Constable's Clouds: Paintings and Cloud Studies by John Constable (National Galleries of Scotland 11/08/2000-29/10/2000)
Constable's Clouds: Paintings and Cloud Studies by John Constable (Walker Art Gallery 28/04/2000-16/07/2000)
Constable (Tate Gallery London 13/06/1991-15/09/1991)
Materials
Oil paint; Canvas
Techniques
Oil painting
Subjects depicted
Landscape
Categories
Paintings
Collection code
PDP
