Detective work uncovers lost Constable

A PREVIOUSLY unknown work by John Constable has been uncovered by museum staff working on an exhibition dedicated to the painter.
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Sep 2014, 18:24 BST
V&A museum employee Olivia Colling looks at John Constable's The Hay Wain at the opening of a new exhibition of his workV&A museum employee Olivia Colling looks at John Constable's The Hay Wain at the opening of a new exhibition of his work
V&A museum employee Olivia Colling looks at John Constable's The Hay Wain at the opening of a new exhibition of his work

The oil sketch, believed to show a kiln on Hampstead Heath in north London, dates to around 1821 and was concealed beneath the lining on the back of a painting of the nearby Branch Hill Pond.

It will go on show in a specially-designed display case showing off both sides of the work in the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

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The picture was one of more than 300 sketches, drawings and paintings given to the museum by Constable’s daughter in the 19th century.

Its director Martin Roth said: “This exhibition refreshes our understanding of his work and creative influence. It shows that Constable’s art, so well-loved and familiar to many of us, still delivers surprises.”

The exhibition, called Constable: The Making Of A Master, includes his masterpiece The Hay Wain and a full-sized sketch version of it.

Constable, who died in 1837, was a farmer’s son who started sketching the countryside of his native Suffolk before going on to study at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

The show runs from Saturday until January 11.

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