Ponies and Donkey in a Forest Clearing by John Constable (1776-1837)
Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood will be offering an oil painting by John Constable
(1776-1837) with impeccable provenance in their Autumn 2015 Fine Art Auction. Daniel
Goddard, Head of the Pictures Department, provides more information about the painting,
which will be auctioned on 6th October 2015 in Exeter and which carries a pre-sale
estimate of £40,000-£60,000.
Ponies and Donkey in a Forest Clearing by John Constable (1776-1837), oil on canvas,
24cm x 36cm.
Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood is delighted to be offering an oil sketch by
John
Constable RA (1776-1837)
entitled forest clearing with ponies and donkey in the Picture Auction
on 6th October 2015 as part of the
Autumn 2015 Fine Sale.
This is a rare discovery of an important painting with impeccable provenance and
specialist authentication that will be available well in advance of the sale. The
pre-sale estimate for the painting is £40,000-£60,000.
The sketch
Ponies and Donkey in a woodland clearing
is catalogued by Graham Reynolds as "Landscape with horses" in the Yale
catalogue raisonne with a date of 1810. The date, 8th October 1810, was recorded
on an old label (now believed lost) by Lionel Bicknell Constable (Constable's
son) who presumably copied this from an original inscription by John Constable on
the back of the sketch, but which was later covered some years later, possibly when
conserved by William Down Ltd in 1965 with a lining.
Reynolds notes that Constable was in Suffolk on 8th October 1810. Reynolds also
informs us (on page 128 of the same book) that this is one of three dated, plein-air
landscapes made in Suffolk that year (the other two are 10.4 and 10.5, dated 27th
September 1810 and 30th September 1810 respectively). This sketch is close in handling
to the other two sketches painted that year.
We suspect this sketch was painted by Constable on one of the lanes in and around
East Bergholt. However, it does have certain compositional similarities with two
other oil sketches Constable made circa 1810, in the nearby village of Stoke-by-Nayland
(See Reynolds 11.44 and 11.45). So it is just possible this subject also depicts
Stoke-by-Nayland though, if so, perhaps odd that Constable should omit the church
with its tall tower on the left-hand side.
- Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
- Fine Art Auctions
- John Constable (1776-1837)
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