John Constable R.A.

(East Bergholt 1776-1837 London)

Scene on Brighton Beach

Footnotes

Provenance
Dr. H.A.C. Gregory
His sale, Sotheby's, London, 20 July 1949, lot 101 (as inscribed 'Nov.16. 1828')
With The Fine Art Society, January 1950 (according to a label on the reverse)
Mrs C.O.E Christopher
Her sale, Sotheby's, London, 14 March 1962, lot 62, where presumably purchased by the late Dr. and Mrs W. Katz, and thence by descent to the present owners

Exhibited
London, Wildenstein, A Centenary Memorial Exhibition of John Constable, R.A., His Origins and Influence, 21 April - 29 May 1937, cat. no. 154

Literature
P. Moore Turner, The Catalogue of a Centenary Memorial Exhibition of John Constable, R.A. His Origins and Influence, London, 1937, exh. cat., cat. no. 154, p. 49 (as 'Shore Scene, inscribed 'April (?) 16 1828)
G. Reynolds, The Later Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, New Haven and London, 1996, p. 192, cat. no. 28.6, ill., pl. 683

From the size of this sheet it has been established that it was taken from a sketchbook of 1821 Whatman paper that Constable used at Brighton in 1825 and again in 1828. Whilst the earlier visit had been a happy one, the 1828 visit was brought on by the poor health of the Constables' infant son Lionel who was born in January of that year. Maria's health also deteriorated in the spring and Constable moved his family to the coast hoping for its restorative powers.

In a number of the Brighton drawings he focuses on the beached craft he saw on the shore; in this study he seems more interested in the cloud formations as a squall moves across the sky, the light effects echoing the curve of the dunes on the right.