Constable had met Henry Greswolde Lewis, the owner of Malvern Hall in Warwickshire, through the dowager Countess of Dysart, Lewis’s sister. In 1820 she asked Constable to paint views of the house from both sides. He visited the house in September that year and painted Malvern Hall: the entrance front, a full-size preparatory sketch of the entrance, or garden front of the house, as viewed from the east. He painted it with the liveliness of an outdoor sketch created directly in front of the motif, with the canvas support clearly visible in some areas. He also made a pencil drawing of the subject on the spot, dated 10 September 1820. On his return to London he painted a pair of views for the countess – one showing Malvern Hall from the garden front, as in this work, and the other as seen from across the park and mirrored in the lake.
Although this painting is an example of country-house portraiture, the house is not central to the composition; in fact the garden dominates and the house is a background feature in the landscape. Framed by the two dark areas of foliage, the grand house recedes into the middle distance. This less formal, asymmetrical composition demonstrates Constable’s interest in views where the subjects of compositions are partially hidden and seen via a winding vista.
Before the 1820s Constable’s working method was to firstly create a pencil sketch, then a small oil sketch of his subject. In the studio, the small sketch was scaled up to create a larger composition. When he began to paint the very large six-footers, or paintings of nearly two metres in width, he often created full-size studies. Sometimes he had two versions in progress at the same time, with very similar brushstrokes, and this has led to a lot of confusion about which paintings are sketches and which are finished works.
By the 1820s Constable was at last achieving some success with his paintings. In 1818 two landscapes fetched twenty and forty-five guineas, and demand was building for his very competent portraits. The nearly two-metre wide picture The leaping horse was painted in 1819 and, in part due to its large scale, attracted notice on the crowded walls of the Royal Academy. Even though some thought that the energy of the brushwork was not appropriate for a public painting, in general it received critical approval and was bought for 100 guineas. The painting confirmed Constable’s reputation and helped his case for election as an Associate of the Royal Academy in November 1819.
Question
• If you divide this composition vertically into quarters you will find that, as in many of his paintings, Constable has placed a significant detail on the dividing lines. What details can you note on the dividing lines of this work?