John Constable, R.A. (East Bergholt 1776-1837 Hampstead)
The Property of a Family (Lots 123-134) Not since a group of 36 drawings by Constable were sold in these Rooms, 12 July 1988, has such a quantity of previously unknown sketches by Constable appeared on the art market. Bought as a folder of '20 Original Constable Sketches' in the early 1950s they have lain largely forgotten in a cupboard for 60 years. The varied nature of the drawings, dating from different periods of the artist's life and the appearance of another of Constable's rare tracings (lot 124) invite comparision with the group of works sold in 1988. They certainly add to our knowledge of Constable's working methods, such as the careful process involved in realising Elm trees in Old Hall Park, East Bergholt (lot 124) and the preliminary sketch for the project of producing an altar piece for the church at Nayland (lot 128) and the appearance of an unpublished draft letter (lot 130). The appearance of another work from 1808 and two from 1809 are important additions to a period which was crucial to Constable's breakthrough with open-air oil sketches, but of which little was known of Constable's activity as a draftsman. Graham Reynolds, The Early Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, New Haven and London, 1996 and The Later Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, New Haven and London, 1984 are referred to throughout the text by citing the catalogue numbers. We are grateful to Peter Bower, Annie Lyles, Timothy Wilcox and Mark Evans for their help in preparing these catalogue entries.
John Constable, R.A. (East Bergholt 1776-1837 Hampstead)

A mountain beyond a lake, probably Borrowdale

细节
John Constable, R.A. (East Bergholt 1776-1837 Hampstead)
A mountain beyond a lake, probably Borrowdale
pencil
7½ x 9½ in. (19 x 24.1 cm.)

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Harriet West
Harriet West

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Constable spent seven weeks in the Lake District during the autumn of 1806. The earliest drawing is dated 1 September 1806 and the last 19 October. During this time he spent three weeks in Borrowdale. Stimulated by the scenery and the powerful feelings he experienced when confronted with the landscape he gradually discovered through his drawings ways of expressing these sensations and produced some of his finest work. Timothy Wilcox states of Constable's time in Borrowdale 'It was their seemingly endless variety, seen singly, in combination, or only in part, which detained Constable so long', The Solitude of the Mountains; Constable and the Lake District, exhibition catalogue, Cumbria, 2006, pp. 107-8. (see fig. 1).

In 1805 Constable had encountered the musician and amateur artist Dr William Crotch (1775-1847), who had shown him a series of Welsh landscapes by his teacher John Baptiste Malchair (1729-1812). The influence of these works can be seen in the broader, simpler style that Constable developed with an emphasis on contrasts of tone, Wilcox, op.cit., p. 132 '... he came to appreciate that the scenery demanded a stronger treatment, less complicated and more direct. The techniques Constable used were transformed... never before had he handled the pencil with such verve, blocking in large areas, yet varying the pressure to record the fall of light over the surfaces of hillsides and fields.'

Peter Bower suggests that the present drawing was executed on a sheet made by Richard Edmeads and John Pine, who worked in the Loose Valley, near Maidstone, Kent. Constable used several different papers during his visit to the Lake District, including three different Edmeads and Pine papers, Reynolds, op.cit., nos. 06.191, 06.192 and three Borrowdale subjects, nos. 06.204, 06.214 and 06.257.