John ConstableBritish, 1776–1837Coast Scene at Brighton: Evening
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
This view depicts the setting sun over Shoreham-by-Sea, west of Brighton. The location was praised as 'one of the most pleasant and rural situations in the vicinity'. The melancholy character of this sunset scene may be linked to the declining health of Constable's wife Maria, who died six months later.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- 155-1888
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Meanwhile, in the life of John Constable
The whole life1824–1828
The family in Brighton for Maria’s health
When Maria began to show symptoms of tuberculosis, Constable took lodgings for the family in Brighton in the hope that sea air would restore her health, dividing his time between Brighton and Charlotte Street in London. He was unsure at first that Brighton suited painting, and complained to Fisher that the beach was only Piccadilly by the sea.
after 1828
Mezzotints for “English Landscape” with David Lucas
Maria’s father, who died shortly before her, left her £20,000, and Constable spent it disastrously on mezzotints after his landscapes for a planned publication. With the engraver David Lucas he made forty prints, one going through thirteen proof stages, but too few subscribers came forward and the venture lost money.
2 January 1828
Son born: Lionel Bicknell Constable
23 November 1828
The death of his wife Maria
After the birth of their seventh child the family returned to Hampstead, where Maria died of tuberculosis at the age of 41. “Hourly do I feel the loss of my departed Angel,” Constable wrote to his brother.
1828–1837
A widower with seven children
For the rest of his life Constable dressed in black and brought up his seven children alone; according to Leslie he was “a prey to melancholy and anxious thoughts”. Several of the children also painted, notably Lionel.
February 1829
Elected to the Royal Academy at fifty-two
In February 1829, three months after his wife’s death, Constable was elected a member of the Royal Academy, at the age of 52.
![Vallon à Helmingham [Helmingham Dell], Constable, John, 1e quart du XIXe siècle (peint à l'été 1823 (selon Beckett)) (1823)](https://collections.louvre.fr/media/cache/large/0000000021/0000065616/0000312650_OG.JPG)
