John Constable, R.A. (East Bergholt, Suffolk 1776-1837 Hampstead)

This exquisite study belongs to a small group of works Constable painted of the downs above Brighton, to where, in May 1824, he had temporarily moved his family for the benefit of his wife Maria's health. Constable himself was in the seaside town for much of the summer of that year, and when Maria was again in Brighton from the end of August 1825 to January 1826, and in June and July 1828, Constable joined her whenever he could.

While the coast clearly provided great inspiration for the artist, one can imagine his delight in escaping the bustling town to explore the beautiful South Downs. Here, away from the crowds and the noise, he could capture nature in one of the grandest landscapes in Southern England. In the present work, the immediacy of the scene is emphasised by the pin holes in the paper, where it would have been held to the easel on which he painted, evident in the upper left and right hand corners. Clouds billow up over the hills, racing across the sky, the immensity of which is emphased by the tiny and jewel-like shepherd and his flock at the very foot of the composition.