DETAIL: John CONSTABLE,  Great Britain 1776 � 1837  'Harwich Lighthouse' c.1820 oil on canvas Tate, London, gift of Maria Louisa Constable, Isabel Constable and Lionel Bicknell Constable in 1888 Tate, London 2005
 
 
John CONSTABLE | Study of clouds
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CONSTABLE, John
Great Britain 1776 – 1837
Study of clouds 28 July 1822
oil on paper
29.2 (h) x 48.2 (w) cm
The Frick Collection, New York, bequest of Henrietta E.S. Lockwood in memory of her father and mother, Ellery Sedgewick and Mabel Cabot Sedgewick, 2000
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In this pure sky study Constable painted streets of cumulus clouds in  a blue summer sky. As well as portraying the clouds, he captured the light at noon and its effects. There is good agreement between Constable’s inscription and the weather records for the London area on that day, which suggest it was a showery day (Thornes 1999, p. 252). For this study and a number of others in 1822 Constable worked on a larger painting support than he had used for his 1821 sky studies.

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