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Weymouth Bay from the Downs above Osmington Mills
John Constable (English, 1776–1837)
about 1816
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
55.9 x 77.2 cm (22 x 30 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. William Caleb Loring
Accession Number30.731
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Departing from the scenery of his native Suffolk, Constable painted this coastal view of Weymouth Bay in Dorset during his honeymoon in the small village of Osmington Mills in 1816. The remarkable panoramic perspective and striking topographical accuracy suggest that he may have painted this canvas on site, from the hills overlooking the bay. Though Constable never returned to Osmington, the locale resurfaced both in later paintings based on the sketches he made during this visit, and in his fond memories: Constable wrote to his wife in 1823, “The distant Dorsetshire hills made me long much to be at dear old Osmington, the remembrance of which must always be precious to you and me.”
ProvenanceMay 16, 1838, posthumous Constable sale, Foster and Sons, London, lot 45 to Burton (probably acting for Constable's heirs); to the artist's son, Charles Golding Constable (b. 1821 - d. 1879); July 11, 1887, Constable sale, Christie's, London, lot 75 to Agnew's, London [see note 1]; July 12, 1888, sold by Agnew to William H. Fuller, New York [see note 2]; February 25, 1898, Fuller sale, American Art Association, New York, lot 20, to Mr. and Mrs. William Caleb Loring, Boston [see note 3]; 1930, bequeathed by Mr. and Mrs. Loring to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 6, 1930)
NOTES:
[1] According to back stretcher inscription, the painting was purchased at the C.G. Constable sale by Agnew at this time.
[2] See Chicago, World's Columbian Exposition, 1893, Loan Collection of Foreign Masterpieces, no. 2883, lent by Fuller
[3] Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Loring to exhibition of "Old Masters" at Copley Society, Boston, 1903, no. 10; later lent by the Lorings to the MFA in 1912, 1915, and 1918.
NOTES:
[1] According to back stretcher inscription, the painting was purchased at the C.G. Constable sale by Agnew at this time.
[2] See Chicago, World's Columbian Exposition, 1893, Loan Collection of Foreign Masterpieces, no. 2883, lent by Fuller
[3] Lent by Mr. and Mrs. Loring to exhibition of "Old Masters" at Copley Society, Boston, 1903, no. 10; later lent by the Lorings to the MFA in 1912, 1915, and 1918.