Oil paint on paper on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
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General 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>
Hampstead Heath with Harrow in Distance
Presented by Miss Isabel Constable 1887
animals: mammals
bush
cart
cow
England
Hampstead Heath, Branch Hill Pond
Harrow
Harrow
Harrow Hill
heathland
hill
landscape
places
plants and flowers
society
transport: land
UK counties
UK countries and regions
UK London
UK natural features
<p>Constable wrote that living in Hampstead, then a small village north of London, allowed him to ‘unite a town &amp; country life’. He rented a house there almost every summer from 1819 to 1826. From 1827 he rented a house there year-round, keeping a studio in central London. With its clean air, green heath and wide, expansive views, Hampstead delighted Constable. He made several outdoor oil sketches of this view. Harrow church can be seen on the extreme right. When this work was first exhibited in the 1880s it became the most popular painting for artists to make copies of.</p><p><em>Gallery label, October 2023</em></p>
paper unique oil paint canvas
8 May 2006 – 22 May 2007
2007-05-22
8 May 2006
2006-05-08
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2006-05-08
John Constable
Collection based display
28 May 2007 – 17 October 2010
2010-10-17
28 May 2007 – 17 October 2010
2010-10-17
2007-05-28
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2007-05-28
John Constable: The Struggle for Recognition
Collection based display
7 February 2015 – 1 March 2020
2020-03-01
7 February 2015 – 1 March 2020
2020-03-01
2015-02-07
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2015-02-07
Constable
Collection based display
13 March 2023
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2023-03-13
Gallery 108
Collection based display
Hampstead Heath, with Harrow in the Distance
support: 183 × 328 × 12 mm
frame: 199 × 342 × 37 mm
Presented by Miss Isabel Constable 1887
<div class="text">
<p>Constable wrote that living in Hampstead, then a small village north of London, allowed him to ‘unite a town &amp; country life’. He rented a house there almost every summer from 1819 to 1826. From 1827 he rented a house there year-round, keeping a studio in central London. With its clean air, green heath and wide, expansive views, Hampstead delighted Constable. He made several outdoor oil sketches of this view. Harrow church can be seen on the extreme right. When this work was first exhibited in the 1880s it became the most popular painting for artists to make copies of.</p>
</div>

Display caption
2023-10-25T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<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-hampstead-heath-with-harrow-in-the-distance-n01237" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N01237</span></a> <b>Hampstead Heath, with Harrow in the Distance</b> <i>Circa</i>
1820–22</p>
<p>
<br/>Oil on paper, laid on canvas, 6 11/16×12 5/16 (17×31.3). The old paper edging on the back bears fragments of inscriptions: ‘[? Feb 3] 1832’ top right, where the word ‘West’ can also be made out; ‘Peel Feb 18 18[?29]’ bottom right. The significance of these inscriptions is discussed below.</p>
<p><i>Prov:</i> presented by Isabel Constable to the National Gallery 1887; transferred to the Tate Gallery 1897. <i>Accession No.</i> 1237.
<br/><i>Exh:</i>
Tate Gallery 1937 (p.16, No.27).
<br/><i>Lit</i>: Holmes 1902, p.245; Shirley 1937, p.121; Chamot 1956, p.261 (accession no. given as 1236); Beckett 1961, Paintings: Middlesex B (11) No.30; Hoozee 1979, No.378.
<br/>
<br/>The water at the bottom right of this study is probably Branch Hill Pond, seen from a different angle to the one used for No.19 above. The view here is roughly to the west, with Harrow appearing at the extreme right, rather than at the left as in No.19. In the early 1820s Constable made a number of oil studies of the views from West Heath looking towards Harrow (see, for example, TG 1976 Nos 194–6). The spire of Harrow church usually figures at the left or centre of these studies but in at least one other example it appears at the extreme right. Dated 12 October 1821, the sketch in question (H.314) was No.39 in Leggatt's summer exhibition in 1952 (repr. in colour in the catalogue) and is now in an American private collection. The viewpoint is very close to that of No.20.
<br/>
<br/>A Hampstead oil study in the V.&amp;A. (R.231, H.386) bears an inscription on the stretcher which is comparable to the ones on the back of No.20: ‘On <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/paper" title="Glossary definition for 'Paper'"><span>paper</span></a> J. Constable R.A Peel Feb 18 48. 5.’. Reynolds suggests that the figures may be the stock mark of John Peel of 17–18 Golden Square, who is listed in London directories of the 1830s and 1840s as a picture liner and restorer. The inscriptions on No.20 may also relate to work done on the picture by Peel.</p>
<p>
<br/><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Leslie Parris, <i>The Tate Gallery Constable Collection</i>, London 1981
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-22T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
animals: mammals bush cart cow England Hampstead Heath, Branch Hill Pond Harrow Harrow Harrow Hill heathland hill landscape places plants and flowers society transport: land UK counties UK countries and regions UK London UK natural features