Watercolour and graphite on paper
Tate Collection
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-constable-108" aria-label="More by John Constable" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">John Constable</a>
towards Stratford St Mary Church
Presented by the Art Fund 1916
architecture
church
East Anglia
England
England, East
hill
landscape
places
religious
Stratford St Mary
Suffolk
UK cities, towns and villages
UK counties
UK countries and regions
wooded
paper unique watercolour graphite
11 September 2019 – 31 May 2020
2020-05-31
11 September 2019 – 16 February 2020
2020-02-16
2019-09-11
Musée du Luxembourg (Paris, France)
29 February 2020 – 31 May 2020
2020-05-31
2020-02-29
External
2019-09-11
Gainsborough to Turner: The Golden Age of English Painting
Loan-out
20 February 2021 – 4 February 2023
2023-02-04
20 February 2021 – 31 May 2021
2021-05-31
2021-02-20
Mitsubishi Ichigokan (Tokyo, Japan)
1 July 2022 – 9 October 2022
2022-10-09
2022-07-01
Villa Vauban (Luxembourg City, Luxembourg)
24 October 2022 – 4 February 2023
2023-02-04
2022-10-24
Reggia di Venaria Reale (Turin, Italy)
2021-02-20
Constable and England: A History of His Affections
Tate partnerships & programmes
View towards Stratford St Mary Church
support: 219 × 152 mm
Presented by the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a> 1916
<p><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/constable-view-towards-stratford-st-mary-church-n03155" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N03155</span></a> <b>View towards Stratford St Mary Church </b>Circa 1805
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<br/>Watercolour and traces of pencil, 8 9/16×6 (21.8×15.2). Inscribed: until 1977 the watercolour was stuck down on a mount, on the back of which was inscribed ‘John Constable, R.A., 1776–1837. On the back is written in pencil, but partly erased:- “The R<sup>t</sup>
Hon<sup>ble</sup> Lady Louisa Manners [J] Hopp[ner] Esq<sup>r</sup>”(?) apparently part of a Memorandum, in Constable's hand.’ A further inscription in a different hand read ‘From the collection of Herbert P.Horne who wrote the note above.’ The brackets and parentheses in the first note are Horne's. When the watercolour was lifted from the mount in 1977, no trace of Constable's inscription could be found.</p>
<p><i>Prov</i>: ...; sold by Herbert Horne to Edward Marsh, perhaps in 1904,<sup>1</sup> and presented by Marsh to the Red Cross Sale, Christie's 15 April 1916 (1272, with a Girtin), bt. R.B.Ross; purchased with other drawings by the National Art-Collections Fund, through the generosity of Miss Juliet Reckitt, and presented to the Tate Gallery 1916. Accession No. 3155.
<br/><i>Exh</i>: Tate Gallery 1937 (p.23, No.I); Tate Gallery 1971 (72).
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<br/>This <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/w/watercolour" title="Glossary definition for 'Watercolour'"><span>watercolour</span></a> has recently been called ‘View towards Dedham Church’ but the building in question now seems more likely to be Stratford St Mary church, seen from more or less the same angle as in the two versions of ‘<a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>Landscape</span></a>: Ploughing scene in Suffolk (A Summerland)’, the first of which was exhibited in 1814 (Fig. 1, Private Collection, TG 1976 No.123, H.193)<sup>2</sup>. The ‘Summerland’ <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/composition" title="Glossary definition for 'Composition'"><span>composition</span></a> presents a view westward up the Stour valley from the outskirts of Old Hall, East Bergholt. The precise viewpoint in No.2 has not been determined.
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<br/>No.2 belongs with a group of Stour valley watercolours which can be dated circa 1805 by comparison with two dated examples of that year (see TG 1976 Nos 45–50). In handling and colour it is especially close to the ‘Dedham Vale from near East Bergholt’ in the National Gallery of Ireland (Fig.2, TG 1976 No.50; repr. in colour, Fleming-Williams 1976, Pl.6).<sup>3</sup>
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<br/>The inscription recorded by Horne (see above) would seem to refer to Constable's work for the Dysart family. Introduced to the 6th Earl of Dysart in 1807, Constable made copies after family <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portraits</span></a> by Reynolds and Hoppner and painted some original portraits. In 1812 he copied Hoppner's portrait of Lady Heathcote as Hebe (see JCC II, p.64) and did some work on Hoppner's copy of Reynolds' portrait of Lady Heathcote's mother, Lady Louisa Manners (ibid., pp.70,74). He seems to have copied Hoppner's own portrait of Lady Louisa, presumably the one referred to on the back of No.2, about the same time: in 1813 portraits by him of Lady Louisa Manners and Lady Heathcote were reported to be in place at the latter's house (ibid., p.108). It is not clear why Constable should have chosen to make a note about the Hoppner on the back of No.2.
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<br/>1. See Collobi, pp.8–12.
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<br/>2. Oil on canvas, 20 1/4×30 1/4 (51.4×76.8).
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<br/>3. Pencil and watercolour, 7 7/8×11 3/4 (20×29.9).</p>
<p>
<br/><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Leslie Parris, <i>The Tate Gallery Constable Collection</i>, London 1981
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-05T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
architecture church East Anglia England England, East hill landscape places religious Stratford St Mary Suffolk UK cities, towns and villages UK counties UK countries and regions wooded