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拍品專文
This recently rediscovered drawing was executed while Constable was still working in his father's mills in East Bergholt. In 1796 he had met J.T. Smith (1766-1833) while staying with his uncle in London, and forged a friendship which would be crucial to his early career. In the autumn of 1798, Smith stayed with the Constable's in Suffolk, and his ongoing encouragement was partly responsible for Constable's decision to study art professionally the following year.
This drawing marks a significant move away from Constable’s early style, so strongly influenced by Smith, towards the techniques, compositions and subjects which would shape his later work. Whereas all of his drawings up to this point had included the motif of a small building or a group of figures, the present drawing is the first known work in his oeuvre to focus entirely on trees. It is also perhaps the first of this type of study, executed predominantly in pencil and grey wash, to include subtle, tonal colored washes, notably a slight blue in the sky.
Groups of trees were a subject which would occupy Constable throughout his life, perhaps most notably in the series of works made at Helmingham Hall near Southwold, seat of the Earls of Dysart. The most comparable of these is Helmingham Dell, Suffolk, sold in these Rooms, 20 November 2013, lot 271. Dated ‘July 23 1800’, this drawing, less than two years later than the present sheet, is widely regarded as one of Constable’s masterpiece works on paper. Ian Fleming-Williams, having pointed out that the Helmingham Dell drawing was done in the summer after Constable had been studying in Fuseli's life classes at the Royal Academy Schools, adds, ‘it is interesting to note how closely Constable's pencil-line resembles that of Henry Fuseli in the studies from life the Swiss artist was making at this time...’ (Fleming-Williams, Constable: Landscape Watercolours and Drawings, London, 1976, p. 18). However, the same twisting, sinuous line and graphic tonality is seen in the present drawing, suggesting that more of this aesthetic came from Constable himself than has been previously credited.
This sheet, until now known only from a photograph in the album of works by Constable in the Alexander Young collection belonging to Agnew’s, gives a crucial and fascinating insight into Constable’s early career and provides a bridge between his early work and his later masterpieces.
We are grateful to Anne Lyles for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.
This drawing marks a significant move away from Constable’s early style, so strongly influenced by Smith, towards the techniques, compositions and subjects which would shape his later work. Whereas all of his drawings up to this point had included the motif of a small building or a group of figures, the present drawing is the first known work in his oeuvre to focus entirely on trees. It is also perhaps the first of this type of study, executed predominantly in pencil and grey wash, to include subtle, tonal colored washes, notably a slight blue in the sky.
Groups of trees were a subject which would occupy Constable throughout his life, perhaps most notably in the series of works made at Helmingham Hall near Southwold, seat of the Earls of Dysart. The most comparable of these is Helmingham Dell, Suffolk, sold in these Rooms, 20 November 2013, lot 271. Dated ‘July 23 1800’, this drawing, less than two years later than the present sheet, is widely regarded as one of Constable’s masterpiece works on paper. Ian Fleming-Williams, having pointed out that the Helmingham Dell drawing was done in the summer after Constable had been studying in Fuseli's life classes at the Royal Academy Schools, adds, ‘it is interesting to note how closely Constable's pencil-line resembles that of Henry Fuseli in the studies from life the Swiss artist was making at this time...’ (Fleming-Williams, Constable: Landscape Watercolours and Drawings, London, 1976, p. 18). However, the same twisting, sinuous line and graphic tonality is seen in the present drawing, suggesting that more of this aesthetic came from Constable himself than has been previously credited.
This sheet, until now known only from a photograph in the album of works by Constable in the Alexander Young collection belonging to Agnew’s, gives a crucial and fascinating insight into Constable’s early career and provides a bridge between his early work and his later masterpieces.
We are grateful to Anne Lyles for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.