JOHN CONSTABLE, R.A. (EAST BERGHOLT 1776-1837 LONDON)
Lot 96 From a Private Collection

JOHN CONSTABLE, R.A. (EAST BERGHOLT 1776-1837 LONDON)

Higham, West of East Bergholt

Closed5 July 2022

Price Realised

GBP 10,710

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JOHN CONSTABLE, R.A. (EAST BERGHOLT 1776-1837 LONDON)
Higham, West of East Bergholt
inscribed and dated 'Higham. 1798-' (verso)
pencil, pen and brown ink, grey and brown wash on paper watermarked with an Irish harp
7 x 11 7⁄8 in. (17.7 x 30.1 cm.)

Dr H.A.C. Gregory; Sotheby's, London, 20 July 1949, lot 74.

Specialist note

This early drawing was executed while Constable was still working in his fathers mills in East Bergholt. In 1796 he had met J.T. Smith 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.
The present drawing is typical of Constable's drawings of 1798 in its use of pencil and wash. Most of his drawings of this date are of the villages of the Dedham Vale, and many share the compositional device of a single building or path in the middle of the landscape.
We are grateful to Anne Lyles for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.