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A Country Road with Trees and Figures (recto); Willy Lott's House (verso)
John Constable·ca. 1830
Historical Context
A Country Road with Trees and Figures (recto); Willy Lott’s House (verso), painted around 1830 and held at the V&A, is a double-sided work that demonstrates Constable’s economical use of painting surfaces. The recto shows a tree-lined road, while the verso preserves a study of the famous house that appears in The Hay Wain. Such double-sided works reveal the practical aspects of Constable’s working method, where every available surface served as a ground for observation.
Technical Analysis
The recto shows broad, summary handling with figures as small color accents on a tree-lined road. Both sides demonstrate the darker palette and more agitated brushwork of Constable's late period, with thick impasto and visible palette knife marks.
Look Closer
- ◆The recto shows a country road with trees and figures, painted with Constable's characteristic attention to rural landscape
- ◆The verso depicts Willy Lott's House, a subject that recurs throughout Constable's career as a touchstone of Stour Valley identity
- ◆The circa 1830 date places this in the period when Constable was increasingly working from memory and earlier studies rather than direct observation
- ◆The double-sided use of the support reflects Constable's economical practice with painting materials
Condition & Conservation
This double-sided study from about 1830 is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The two compositions on recto and verso present conservation challenges, as treatment of one side can affect the other. The work has been carefully stabilized. Both compositions are legible, though the secondary side may show more wear. The double-sided format reveals Constable's working practices.
See It In Person
Victoria and Albert Museum
London, United Kingdom
Gallery: Prints & Drawings Study Room, room WS
Visit museum website →
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