Cloud Study
Maker
(artist)
1776-1837
1776-1837
Title
Cloud Study
Date of Production
21.9.1822
Medium
oil on two superimposed sheets of wove paper laid down on a third sheet
Dimensions
Height: 30.5 cm (paper)
Width: 49 cm (paper)
Width: 49 cm (paper)
Accession Number
P.1952.RW.69
Mode of Acquisition
Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Label Text
Constable undertook several campaigns of painting clouds from Hampstead Heath over the summers and autumns of 1820-23, usually noting the date, time and weather conditions. This study, painted on a windy day, presented particular challenges: although he worked quickly, in thin, fluid paint, the artist was unable to finish the middle bank of cloud, which remains blue. Although Constable’s
interest in clouds was surely fuelled by contemporary meteorological studies, it was not purely scientific; he regarded the sky as ‘the chief “Organ of Sentiment”’ in landscape.
interest in clouds was surely fuelled by contemporary meteorological studies, it was not purely scientific; he regarded the sky as ‘the chief “Organ of Sentiment”’ in landscape.
Provenance
Paterson Gallery, 1928; Sir Farquhar Buzzard, 1937; Sir Robert Witt; with life interest to Miss Thyra Creke-Clark (d. 1974); Witt Bequest 1952
Exhibition History
A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, The Morgan Library, New York, 30/05/2014-07/09/2014
A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/01/2014-27/04/2014 ...More
Wolken Welt des Flüchtigen, Leopold Museum, Vienna, 22/03/2013-01/07/2013
Creative Quarters, Museum of London, 28/03/2001-15/07/2001
Constable's Cloud Studies, National Gallery of Scotland & Edinburgh & Scotland, 11/08/2000-29/10/2000
Constable's Cloud Studies, Walker Art Gallery & Liverpool & England, 28/04/2000-16/07/2000
Goethe and the Visual Arts, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, 28/08/1994-31/10/1994
Goethe and the Visual Arts, Schlossmuseum, Weimar, 20/05/1994-07/08/1994
John Constable, Tate Britain, London, 13/06/1991-15/09/1991 ...Less
A Dialogue with Nature: Romantic Landscapes from Britain and Germany, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/01/2014-27/04/2014 ...More
Wolken Welt des Flüchtigen, Leopold Museum, Vienna, 22/03/2013-01/07/2013
Creative Quarters, Museum of London, 28/03/2001-15/07/2001
Constable's Cloud Studies, National Gallery of Scotland & Edinburgh & Scotland, 11/08/2000-29/10/2000
Constable's Cloud Studies, Walker Art Gallery & Liverpool & England, 28/04/2000-16/07/2000
Goethe and the Visual Arts, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, 28/08/1994-31/10/1994
Goethe and the Visual Arts, Schlossmuseum, Weimar, 20/05/1994-07/08/1994
John Constable, Tate Britain, London, 13/06/1991-15/09/1991 ...Less
Literature
Creative Quarters, Museum of London, 2001
Inscriptions
Inscription: inscribed : on verso : dated : Sepr.21.1822. Looking South, brisk wind to east, warm and fresh. 3 o’cl. afternoon
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