Place of Origin
Great Britain, UK (probably, painted)
Date
ca. 1800 (painted)
Artist/maker
John Constable, born 1776 - died 1837 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
oil on paper laid on canvas
Dimensions
Height: 49.8 cm estimate, Width: 60 cm estimate
Object history note
Given by Isabel Constable, 1888
Historical context note
In 1805 Constable exhibited 'A Landscape: Moonlight' at the Royal Academy. According to an unpublished entry in the Diary, he called on Farington on 1 June to say that he had been engaged to paint an altarpiece for a country church. This picture was probably the altarpiece for Brantham Curch which Leslie assigns to the previous year (Beckett, I, pp. 18-9)
G Reynolds, 1973, p. 52.
Descriptive line
Oil painting, 'The Valley of the Stour, with Dedham in the Distance', John Constable, ca. 1800
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
Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973, cat. no. 63
The following is an extract from the text of the entry:
The sketch has been relined at an unknown date, and has been treated for damp and discolouration of the whites while in the Museum.
The scene is a panoramic view of the Stour valley looking south towards the estuary; in the foreground is Stratford St Mary bridge, which divides Suffolk from Essex. The building on the right is the Talbooth.
The back of the stretcher is stencilled with Messrs. Christie's reference number 138 F and inscribed in chalk Feb. 17/77. The lot number, which is partially obscured by the paper backing-up of the picture, is 195. Lots 171-197 of the sale at Messrs. Christie's on 17 February 1877 comprised "Sketches by J. Constable R. A., the property of the Artist's Family". Lot 195 'Valley of the Stour' was bought in for £49. 7s. Holmes, p. 242, says that No. 63 [321-1888] is possibly the sketch which Constable is said to have made from the top of Langham Church tower but Lt.-Col. C. A. Brooks states that this is not so. He identifies the viewpoint as a cleft slightly to the west of Gun Hill about 600 yards to the east of Langham Church and close to that of No. 37. [124-1888]. The view was a favourite one with Constable. Davies, p. 33, in his note on N.G. No 1822 links that sketch with No. 63 and lists other variants of the view. Of these, the work he records from the J. P. Heseltine collection now belongs to Lt.-Col. C. A. Brooks; it was exhibited at Messrs. Leggatt's Summer Exhibition, 1956 (No. 43, and reproduction on p. 12 of the catalogue).
Holmes dates No. 63 c. 1810. In view of the tentative nature of the drawing and technique this seems certainly too late. The dated oils of 1802 (Nos. 36, 37 and 39) [587-1888, 124-1888 and 142-1888] lay emphasis on the structure of the trees, a feature which is not apparent here. A dating nearer 1800 that 1805 is suggested by these considerations. The other versions discussed in this entry do not appear to be contemporary with No. 63. In 1964 the painting was lightly cleaned and revarnished. During this process certain darkened areas of old retouching were removed. These had been applied to cover small areas of paint loss where the red ground was exposed; these losses had apparently been caused by some form of impurity in the support, ground or adhesive used in laying the paper on canvas. The more disturbing areas of damage were retouched, and the painting now has a far more serene and homogeneous appearance, but this does not appear to call for a revision of the views expressed above about its date.'
Evans, M., with N. Costaras and C. Richardson, John Constable. Oil Sketches from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London: V&A, 2011, p. 40, cat. no. 4.
Exhibition History
Constable (Tate Gallery London 13/06/1991-15/09/1991)
Materials
Paper; Oil paint; Canvas
Techniques
Oil painting
Subjects depicted
Landscape; Dedham
Categories
Paintings
Collection code
PDP
