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    • Posts Tagged ‘John Constable’

    DID A CONSTABLE BEACH AT CASTLECOMER?

    Thursday, May 19th, 2022
    BEACHED BOATS AT BRIGHTON ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN CONSTABLE. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Beached Boats at Brighton, a painting attributed to one of Britains most enduringly popular artists John Constable (1776-1837), is the top lot at Shepards three day Great Irish Interiors sale from May 24-26. The oil on board in a gilt frame is estimated at 20,000-30,000. From a private family collection at Littlehamton in Sussex Sheppards say it is likely to have come from one of the sales at Fosters who sold the contents of Constable’s studios on behalf of his family from 1838 to 1875. The tiny work measures just three and a half by four and a half inches. The sale of 1,204 lots features art, antique furniture and a wide variety of collectibles. The catalogue is online and viewing gets underway in Durrow tomorrow.

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    STUBBS COMMISSIONED BY AN IRISH PEER IN 1789

    Monday, December 4th, 2017

    George Stubbs, A.R.A. LIVERPOOL 1724 – 1806 LONDON TWO BAY HUNTERS IN A PADDOCK  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Irish interest in Sotheby’s Old Masters evening sale in London on December 6 will centre on a 1789 work by George Stubbs (1724-1806). Two Bay Hunters in a Paddock was commissioned by the Irish peer Arthur Annesley, 8th Viscount Valentia.  It is estimated at £1.5-2 million.  Highlights of the sale include one of the last and most important candlelight pictures by Joseph Wright of Derby left in private hands, a luminous 18th-century view of Venice by Bellotto, two recently rediscovered landscapes by Constable, and a gallery of portraits covering 300 years, from Cranach and Titian to Van Dyck.

    Alex Bell, Worldwide Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department: “Strong imagery, luminous works and great names have long been driving the Old Masters market but in the last couple of years, we have witnessed a surge of interest in Early Renaissance and high Renaissance paintings among international collectors. With their simple and striking imagery, these works often find their way in very eclectic collections. We are therefore delighted that nearly half of the works in the sale consist of Renaissance pictures. We are also privileged to present rare works by three of the greatest and most influential British artists of the 18th century whose work transcends national boundaries and speaks to a wider global sensibility: Constable, Wright of Derby and Stubbs.”

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    REDISCOVERED CONSTABLE LANDSCAPE AT AUCTION IN LONDON

    Friday, October 27th, 2017

    John Constable, R.A. (1776 – 1837) Dedham Vale with the River Stour In flood from the grounds of Old Hall, East Bergholt. Courtesy of Sotheby’s

    A rediscovered Constable landscape comes up at Sotheby’s Old Masters evening sale in London on December 6.  One of the most important additions to Constable’s oeuvre to have emerged in the last 50 years Dedham Vale with the River Stour in Flood is one of the last early views of “Constable Country” in private hands.  John Constable (1776-1837) is one of Britain’s best-loved and most significant landscape painters and this work is estimated at £2-3 million.

    Julian Gascoigne, Senior Specialist, British Paintings at Sotheby’s said: “Constable’s views of Dedham Vale and the Stour valley have become icons of British art and define for many everything that is quintessential about the English countryside.  Dedham Vale with the River Stour in Floodwas long mistakenly thought to be by Ramsay Richard Reinagle (1775-1862), a friend and contemporary of Constable’s, but recent scientific analysis and up-to-date connoisseurship has unanimously returned the work to its rightful place among the canon of the great master’s work and established beyond doubt its true authorship. It is without question one of the most exciting and important additions to Constable’s oeuvre to have emerged in the last fifty years”.

    The painting is thought to have been commissioned by Thomas Fitzhugh as a wedding present for his future wife, Philadelphia Godfrey, whose parents were neighbours and friends of Constable’s family. It is the view from the back garden of Philadelphia’s childhood home, and must have served as a perfect memento once settled into married life in London.

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    A WORK OF GENIUS BY CONSTABLE TO CELEBRATE 250 YEARS OF CHRISTIE’S

    Thursday, June 2nd, 2016

    John Constable, R.A. (1776-1837) View on the River Stour near Dedham, full-scale sketch circa 1821-22 oil on canvas

    John Constable, R.A. (1776-1837)
    View on the River Stour near Dedham, full-scale sketch c1821-22. Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2016.

    A work of genius by John Constable, R.A. (1776-1837), the ‘sketch’ for View on the Stour near Dedham, c1821-22, will be offered alongside masterpieces by Reynolds, Leighton, Lowry, Spencer, Bacon and Freud at Christie’s in London on June 30.  The Defining British Art sale marks Christie’s 250th anniversary. The Constable is estimated in the region of £12-16 million. It is the last great six-footer sketch in private hands.

    Jussi Pylkkänen, Global President of Christie’s International: “Not since Constable’s Lock have we had the opportunity to work with a painting of this calibre by one of the titans of British painting.  To stand in front of this expansive work, is to understand why the great British modern painters and even the French Impressionists revered Constable as their spiritual mentor. Constable famously said that “Painting is but another word for feeling” and later that “I do not consider myself at work unless I am before a six-foot canvas”.  Visitors to Christie’s in June will be able to see a rarely exhibited masterpiece by Constable which perfectly describes his passion for paint and his ability to paint dramatic landscapes on the grand scale. It is fitting that Christie’s should be given the opportunity to sell this masterpiece in our Defining British Art sale which marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of this great institution.”

    UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £14,082,500

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    THE LOCK BY JOHN CONSTABLE SELLS FOR £9.1 MILLION AT SOTHEBY’S

    Thursday, December 10th, 2015

    The Lock at Sotheby's

    The Lock at Sotheby’s

    The Lock, one of John Constable’s most famous compositions sold for £9,109,000 at Sotheby’s London last night.  It was painted c1824-25. The monumental landscape depicting the countryside of the painter’s “careless boyhood” was the highlight of the Old Master & British Paintings evening sale.  It was retained by the artist in his studio until the end of his life. The auction totalled £22.6 million.

    Alex Bell, Joint International Head and Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Old Master Paintings Department said: “The Lock belongs to a small group of pictures that define Constable’s oeuvre and genius. The artist’s absolute mastery as a landscape painter is everywhere in the picture and this was reflected in the result achieved tonight. The painting was one of many museum-quality works presented in the sale, an unprecedented proportion of which were from private collections and came to the market for the first time in several generations. The combination of quality and freshness to the market are key in this field and certainly account for this evening’s strong results.”

    As of last night Sotheby’s has sold $237,619,514 worth of Old Master and British Paintings worldwide in 2015.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for  September 26, 2015).

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    THE LOCK BY CONSTABLE AT SOTHEBY’S IN DECEMBER

    Saturday, September 26th, 2015

    John Constable - The Lock.

    John Constable – The Lock.  UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £9.1 MILLION

    John Constable’s The Lock will be offered at Sotheby’s in London on December 9 with an estimate of £8-12 million.  It has been in the same family collection for over 150 years and is on the market for the first time since 1855.  The Lock is one of the small group of monumental landscapes, known as the ‘Six Footers’, which for many define the pinnacle of the artist’s career. Depicting a bucolic scene on the River Stour in the artist’s native Suffolk, and painted in response to the huge critical acclaim that greeted Constable’s first treatment of the composition exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1824, the picture was treasured by the artist. He retained it in his studio till the end of his life. It was singled out by him for prestigious exhibitions, and chosen as the basis for the engraving that was to make it among the most familiar, and celebrated, images in the canon of British art.

    Works by Constable are extremely rare in private hands and on the market and this masterpiece will lead the Old Master and British paintings sale.  Of the other paintings forming the Six Footers – the Stour landscapes – all but two are in public institutions.

    Julian Gascoigne, Sotheby’s senior British pictures specialises said: “Constable’s absolute mastery as a landscape painter is everywhere in this picture”.

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