Physical description
This is catalogue no.115 in Reynolds "Catalogue of the Constable Collection" (1960), plate 70.
It is inscribed in lower right corner in oil by the artist "July 4 1812".
The scene is near East Bergholt : the sun is setting amid red clouds in undulating country, illuminating stooks of hay in a field in the foreground.
Place of Origin
England, Great Britain (painted)
Date
04/07/1812 (painted)
Artist/maker
John Constable, born 1776 - died 1837 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
oil on paper; laid down on canvas at a later date
Marks and inscriptions
'July 4 1812'
Dimensions
Height: 160 mm estimate, Width: 318 mm estimate
Object history note
Given by Isabel Constable, 1888
Historical context note
In 1812 Constable's exhibits at the Royal Academy were 'Salisbury: Morning', 'A Watermill' (Flatford Mill) (see No. 103 [135-1888]) and two small landscapes. Apart from a possible brief visit to Salisbury (see No. 118 [263-1888]) he spent most of the supper in Suffolk.
[G Reynolds, 1973, p. 77]
Descriptive line
Oil painting, 'A Hayfield near East Bergholt at Sunset', John Constable, 1812
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. 115
Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973, pp. 77, 78, 80
The following is an extract from the text of the entry:
The paper has been laid down on canvas at a later date.
The scene is near East Bergholt: the sun is setting amid red clouds in undulating country, illuminating stooks of hay in a field in the foreground.
Writing to Maria Bicknell on 10 July Constable said "For more than this week past I have been wholly engaged on a portrait of Mr. William Godfrey [of Old Hall, East Bergholt] which was just compleated in time" (Beckett, II, pp.79 and 80). In the same letter Constable goes on to comment on sketches such as Nos. 115 [121-1888] and 116 [146-1888] and incidentally to explain why they are of evening scenes: "I am however perverse enough to be vain of some studies of landscapes which I have done...I am sure you will laugh when I tell you I have found another very promising subject at Flatford Mill. I do not study much abroad in the middle of these hot bright days. I am become quite carefull of myself, last year I almost put my eyes out by that pastime".
Notes on Nos. 115 [121-1888], 116 [146-1888], 117 [328-1888], 119 [324-1888], and 120 [127-1888]
Another oil sketch of the same type, ‘Dedham Vale’ in the Ashmolean Museum, is dated 13 July 1812; and an oil sketch dated 12 July 1812 was in the Staats Forbes Collection. J. G. Böhler, Constable and Rubens, pp. 36 ff. discusses Nos. 115 [121-1888], 116 [146-1888], 117 [328-1888], and 120 [127-1888], and suggests that the influence of Rubens to be found in them may have been mediated through Lord Radnor’s ‘Escurial’. Constable is known to have seen this painting at some time between May and November, 1812.
Exhibition History
John Constable, selected by Lucian Freud (Grand Palais 10/10/2002-13/01/2003)
Constable (Tate 13/06/1991-15/09/1991)
Materials
Paper; Oil paint; Canvas
Techniques
Oil painting
Subjects depicted
Sunset; East Bergholt; Hay stacks
Categories
Paintings
Collection code
PDP
