Sketch for "A Boat Passing a Lock"

Gallery 392, European Art 1500-1850, third floor (Haas Gallery)

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Sketch for "A Boat Passing a Lock"

1822-1824

John Constable (English, 1776–1837)

On the far right a barge waits for the sluice gates to open and lower the water level. The navigator, in a red waistcoat, has just put down his fishing pole to work the lock. In a letter to a friend the artist expressed his enthusiasm for this kind of subject: "The sound of water escaping from Mill dams . . . Willows, Old rotten Banks, slimy posts, & brickwork. I love such things. . . . As long as I do paint I shall never cease to paint such Places." This is a preliminary version of a painting that, exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1824, became Constable's most popular work up to that time.

Gallery 392, European Art 1500-1850, third floor (Haas Gallery)

Object Details

Title:

Sketch for "A Boat Passing a Lock"

Date:

1822-1824

Artist:

John Constable (English, 1776–1837)

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

55 1/2 × 48 inches (141 × 121.9 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

The John Howard McFadden Collection, 1928

Accession Number:

M1928-1-2

Geography:

Made in Great Britain, Europe

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Gallery 392, European Art 1500-1850, third floor (Haas Gallery)

Main Building

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