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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, possibly in posthumous John Constable sale, Foster and Sons, London, part of lot 45, bought in by Asher-Burton for the Constable family [see note 1]; the artist's son, Charles Golding Constable (b. 1821 - d. 1878), London; July 11, 1887, posthumous Constable sale, Christie's, London, lot 75 to Thos. Agnew and Sons, London (stock no. 4618); July 12, 1888, sold by Agnew to William H. Fuller (b. 1868 - d. 1902), New York [see note 2]; February 25, 1898, Fuller sale, American Art Association at Chickering Hall, New York, lot 20, to William Caleb Loring (b. 1851 - d. 1930) and his wife, Susan Mason Lawrence Loring (b. 1852 - d. 1923), Boston; 1930, bequest of Mr. and Mrs. William Caleb Loring to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 6, 1930)
NOTES:
[1] Constable: Paintings, Watercolours and Drawings (exh. cat. Tate Gallery, London, 1976), p. 100, cat. no. 149; this identification was also proposed by scholar Ronald B. Beckett (correspondence with MFA curator W. G. Constable, April 23, 1950).
[2] Agnew Picture Stock Book NGA27/1/1/7 (1885 - 1891), p. 72. Accessed through the website of the National Gallery, London. In 1888, Agnew informed William Fuller, possibly in error, that the painting had belonged to Constable's sister (cited in the 1898 auction catalogue).
NOTES:
[1] Constable: Paintings, Watercolours and Drawings (exh. cat. Tate Gallery, London, 1976), p. 100, cat. no. 149; this identification was also proposed by scholar Ronald B. Beckett (correspondence with MFA curator W. G. Constable, April 23, 1950).
[2] Agnew Picture Stock Book NGA27/1/1/7 (1885 - 1891), p. 72. Accessed through the website of the National Gallery, London. In 1888, Agnew informed William Fuller, possibly in error, that the painting had belonged to Constable's sister (cited in the 1898 auction catalogue).