1815
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
Harwich: the seashore and lighthouse is a 1815 by John Constable, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
John Constable made this loose drawing of Harwich’s windy shore. It shows the lighthouse and rough sea in quick strokes. The date is partly lost on the page. The sketch was later used for a bigger painting shown at the Royal Academy. His handwriting is hard to read, even for experts. See how he used cross-hatching to suggest mist and wind.
A small wooden lighthouse stands on a misty, windswept shoreline in this drawing, accompanied by a few scattered figures, while two ships appear in the distance on calm water. The work served as a preparatory sketch for an oil painting Constable may have exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1820. The date inscribed in the lower right, once thought to be 1815, remains partially illegible. The scene reflects Constable’s presence in Suffolk during 1815, a year marked by personal and familial circumstances.
Read the full account in the museum source.
John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition.
See the richer artist pageYour cart is empty
Explore artworks →
