John Constable R.A.

Bought from Agnew's London, by 1956 and thence by descent

The following condition report has been provided by Hamish Dewar, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. Structural Condition The artist's board is providing a stable and secure support with no evidence of any structural intervention in the past. Paint Surface The paint surface has a discoloured varnish layer and would undoubtedly benefit from cleaning. There are some minor spots and deposits on the surface. Inspection under ultra-violet light confirms how discoloured the varnish layers have become and also shows small, scattered retouchings, predominantly in the darker blue pigments of the sky. These are clearly excessive and should they be removed I would be confident that many would be found to be largely, if not wholly, unnecessary. Summary The painting therefore appears to be in excellent and stable condition and should respond extremely well to cleaning, restoration and revarnishing. To speak to a specialist about this lot please contact Julian Gascoigne on +44 (0)207 293 5482, or at julian.gascoigne@sothebys.com.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

'The sky is the source of light in nature and governs everything.'[1]

During the summer and autumn of 1821 and 1822 Constable made a concerted effort to paint studies of clouds. In 1821 he wrote to his great friend the Rev. John Fisher, 'I have done a good deal of skying - I am determined to conquer all difficulties... That landscape painter who does not make skies a very material part of the composition - neglects to avail himself of one of his greatest aids.' [2] When Constable wrote these words he was responding to criticism, relayed to him by Fisher in a previous letter, of the overdominant sky in Stratford Mill. He was obviously aware of the problems posed by painting the sky and this led to the astonishing group of sensitive cloud studies which he sketched whilst living in Hampstead between 1821 and 1822.

Constable undoubtedly had a practical knowledge of the sky and clouds dating from his early days as a miller's son, but he also took great pains to absorb contemporary scientific knowledge. He owned and annotated a copy of Thomas Forster's Researches About Atmospheric Phenomenon, published in 1813. The precise identity of the clouds in this work have been identified as 'towers of cumulus' by Dr John Thornes.

Constable's studies can be seen as a faithful record of the weather at the time and the results, including the present work, are remarkable when one considers how quickly the cloud formations were changing. Moreover those recorded cloud studies known today demonstrate that Constable was fascinated by meteorological observation and succeeded in depicting all sorts of varieties of cloud types, the direction of their movement, and above all their three dimensional form. Conal Shields has kindly pointed out that this study is most clearly comparable to Hampstead Heath, looking over towards Harrow (Royal Academy of Arts, London) which Constable painted on the afternoon of the 27th September 1821.

Constable's cloud studies were apparently never specifically used for any of his finished pictures, but many of his later exhibited works show the clear benefits of this intensive study. Furthermore, the medium upon which he chose to work often varied between carefully selected sheets of paper of a similar size, to boards of various composition and size. A report by Peter Bower on the board used for this painting is available upon request. We would like to thank Graham Reynolds for confirming the attribution of this cloud study. Only recently brought to the attention of academics this painting makes an exciting contribution to the canon of Constable's distinctive and greatly admired studies of clouds.

[1] J Constable to Rev John Fisher, 23rd September 1821.
[2] J Constable to Rev John Fisher, 23rd October 1821.