John ConstableBritish, 1776–1837Hampstead Heath with a Rainbow
May one see it?
Unknown: the museum keeps its counsel
The National Gallery
London, United Kingdom
The owner is known. Whether it is on view today, the museum does not say, and we were not trained to guess.
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
Hampstead Heath with a Rainbow is an 1836 landscape painting by the English artist John Constable. It depicts a scene from Branch Hill in Hampstead overlooking Hampstead Heath.
While Constable had previously painted several similar views this work, painted near the end of his career, is notable for the addition of a windmill and a rainbow. He was pleased with the result "one of my best bits of Heath" and what he described as the "fresh" and "sunshiney" effect.
Today it is in the collection of the Tate Britain having been bequeathed by his daughter Isabel in 1888 as part of the Constable Bequest.
Particulars
- Accession number
- NG1275
Sources
- Wikidata · fetched 6 days ago
- Image: The National Gallery — John Constable · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Meanwhile, in the life of John Constable
The whole life1828–1837
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.
1835
A last lecture to the Academy’s students
In 1835 Constable gave his last lecture to the students of the Royal Academy, praising Raphael and calling the Academy the “cradle of British art”; it was cheered most heartily.
1836
Lectures at the Royal Institution: three theses
In a series of lectures at the Royal Institution in 1836 Constable proposed three theses: landscape painting is scientific as well as poetic; imagination alone never can produce art that bears comparison with reality; and no great painter was ever self-taught.
31 March 1837
Death in the night, probably of heart failure
Constable died on the night of 31 March 1837, apparently of heart failure (another account names dyspepsia), and was buried beside Maria.
31 March 1837
Died
![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)
