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Coast Scene at Brighton: Evening

Oil Painting
possibly 22/05/1828 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Constable, John (RA) (artist)
Place of origin
Great Britain (painted)

This view depicts the setting sun over Shoreham-by-Sea, west of Brighton. The location was praised as 'one of the most pleasant and rural situations in the vicinity'. The melancholy character of this sunset scene may be linked to the declining health of Constable's wife Maria, who died six months later.

Object details

Category
Paintings
Object type
Oil painting
TitleCoast Scene at Brighton: Evening (popular title)
Materials and techniques
oil on paper
Oil Paint
Paper
Oil Painting
Brief description
Oil sketch, 'Coast scene at Brighton : evening', Constable, 19th century.
Physical description
Painting with a low horizon with a sunset and figures.
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 200mm
  • Estimate width: 248mm
  • Frame height: 452mm
  • Frame width: 504mm
  • Frame depth: 40mm
Dimensions taken from Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973
Style
British School
Marks and inscriptions
'22 May' (Inscribed by the artist in pencil on back; the date is repeated in ink by another hand)
Credit line
Given by Isabel Constable
Object history
Given by Isabel Constable, 1888
Historical context
'In 1828 Constable exhibited at the Royal Academy two paintings called 'Landscape'. One was 'Dedham Vale' (National Gallery of Scotland, No. 2016); the other was 'Hampstead Heath' (No. 301 in this Catalogue [FA.35]). His seventh child, Lionel Bicknell, was born on 2 January. Mrs. Constable died on 23 November.'

[G Reynolds, 1973, p.185]
Subjects depicted
Sunset
Beaches
Place depicted
Shoreham-by-Sea
Summary
This view depicts the setting sun over Shoreham-by-Sea, west of Brighton. The location was praised as 'one of the most pleasant and rural situations in the vicinity'. The melancholy character of this sunset scene may be linked to the declining health of Constable's wife Maria, who died six months later.
Bibliographic references
  • 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).
  • Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973, pp. 185, 187-188
  • p. 109 Shân Lancaster, ed. Constable and Brighton: something out of nothing. London : Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd, 2017. ISBN: 9781785510694.
  • Feaver, William, Lucian Freud on John Constable, London, British Council, 2003
Other number
303, plate 228 - Reynolds catalogue no.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
155-1888

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Record createdJuly 25, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O82720/coast-scene-at-brighton-evening-oil-painting-constable-john-ra/
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