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Colliers on the beach at Brighton

Maker

(artist)
1776-1837

Title

Date of Production

(14 October) 1825

Medium

graphite on wove paper (discoloured brown patches from former adhesive backing)

Dimensions

Height: 11.6 cm
Width: 18.7 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.2541.4

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

colliers

Label Text

These brigs regularly brought coal to the expanding town of Brighton, arriving in threes to be beached and unloaded at low tide. Constable had taken lodgings in the town for his ailing wife and their children, and travelled down from London as often as he could, making numerous drawings by the sea. The boats with their complex rigging, the choppy sea, the activity at the water's edge and the scudding clouds are all captured with remarkable economy of line in this swiftly executed drawing.

Notes

Constable first visited Brighton May 1824 with his wife, who remained there until November. Maria spent August 1825-January 1826 there, and returned again in 1828. In 1825, Constable visited Brighton at least six times - 1 day (31 August); a few days in September, returning to london by the 30th; in October, from the 7-14th inclusive; early November; and between 28 November and 6 December.

Provenance

by descent to grandson of the artist, Hugh Constable, London (1868-1949); purchased from him by Leggatt Bros. (London), October 1899; Sir Harry Baldwin, Isle of Wight (1863-1931); Sotheby's (London), 19 June 1933, lot 125, as a collection of 14 sketches in two frames; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Constable and Brighton, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Brighton, 08/04/2017-08/10/2017

The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/09/1986-30/11/1986; The Drawing Center, New York, 08/04/1986-26/07/1986

English Landscape Drawing and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/05/1977-01/06/1977 ...More

Constable: paintings, watercolours and drawings, Tate Gallery, London, 18/02/1976-25/04/1976

English Landscape Drawings [catalogue not found], Rye Art Gallery, England, 1971

English Landscape Drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/01/1965-01/05/1965

Old Master Drawings from the Witt Collection, Auckland City Art Gallery, 01/09/1960-01/10/1960

Drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1958-59

John Constable 1776-1837, Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester, 26/04/1956-03/06/1956

catalogue untraced, Churchill Club, London, 1945

Old Masters from the Witt Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 01/01/1943-01/05/1943

Richard Wilson and John Constable, Oxford Arts Club, 26/10/1937-18/11/1937 ...Less

Literature

Lancaster, Shan (ed.), Constable and Brighton - 'something out of nothing', Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd - London 2017
p. 119
ill. on p. 118

Constable, a Master Draughtsman, Dulwich Picture Gallery, 1994
no. 66, p. 218
pl. 10 and ill. on p. 219

Constable: the changing face of nature, Tate Gallery, 13 June - 15 September 1991 London: Tate Gallery 1991
p. 463 ...More

The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1986
cat. no. 76
ill. on p. 177

Reynolds, Graham, The later paintings and drawings of John Constable, New Haven: Yale University Press 1984
no. 25.20 on p. 162
pl. 591

Mantegna to Cezanne: Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 1983
cat. no. 115
ill. on p. 113

English Landscape Drawing and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1977
cat. no. 37

Constable: paintings, watercolours & drawings, Tate Gallery, 18 February - 25 April 1976 London: Tate Gallery 1976
no. 241
ill.

Day, Harold, John Constable RA, 1776-1837: drawings, the golden age, Eastbourne: Eastbourne Fine Art, 1975
p. 151
pl. 153

English Landscape Drawings from the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1965
cat. no. 27

Old Master Drawings from the Witt Collection, Auckland City Art Gallery, 1960
cat. no. 5

Drawings from the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1958 - 1959
cat. no. 52

John Constable, 1776-1837, City of Manchester Art Gallery, 1956
no. 125

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 11
accession number given as 2541M ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Recto, right, cut off: "[...]TMAN / [...] YMILL / [...] 21" "as in "J WHATMAN / TURKEYMILL / 1821").

Inscription: Recto: lower left corner, graphite, located and dated: "Brighton / Friday 14 Oct. 1825.".

Collector's mark: none.

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