A Sluice, perhaps on the Stour thumbnail 1
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A Sluice, perhaps on the Stour

Oil Painting
ca. 1830-1836 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This study of a sluice gate on a millstream may depict Dedham lock on the River Stour. Its sombre colours and agitated brushwork resemble the landscapes of the 17th-century Dutch painter Jacob Ruysdael, which Constable greatly admired.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleA Sluice, perhaps on the Stour (popular title)
Materials and techniques
oil on paper laid on canvas
Brief description
Oil painting, 'A Sluice, perhaps on the Stour', John Constable, ca. 1830-ca. 1836
Physical description
Oil sketch of a sluice and trees.
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 219mm
  • Estimate width: 187mm
  • Frame height: 504mm
  • Frame width: 452mm
  • Frame depth: 40mm
Dimensions taken from Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973
Style
Credit line
Given by Isabel Constable, daughter of the artist
Object history
Given by Isabel Constable, 1888
Historical context
'In 1836 Constable's two exhibits at the Royal Academy were the 'Cenotaph to the memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds' (now in the Tate Gallery, No. 1272) and the watercolour 'Stonehenge' (No. 395 [1629-1888]). He gave four lectures on 'The History of Landscape Painting' at the Royal Institution in May and June of this year and his last lecture, at Hampstead, on 25 July. Constable died on 31 March 1837. His almost completed painting 'Arundel Mill and Castle' (now in the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio; see No. 379 [260-1888]) was exhibited posthumously at the Royal Academy.'

[G Reynolds, 1973, p. 233]
Subject depicted
Summary
This study of a sluice gate on a millstream may depict Dedham lock on the River Stour. Its sombre colours and agitated brushwork resemble the landscapes of the 17th-century Dutch painter Jacob Ruysdael, which Constable greatly admired.
Bibliographic references
  • Catalogue of the Constable Collection, Graham Reynolds, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1973, pp. 233, 238-239
  • Evans, Mark et al. Vikutoria & Arubāto Bijutsukan-zō : eikoku romanshugi kaigaten = The Romantic tradition in British painting, 1800-1950 : masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum. Japan : Brain Trust, 2002
Other number
404, plate 301 - Reynolds catalogue no.
Collection
Accession number
131-1888

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Record createdJuly 25, 2003
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