Dedham Lock
John Constable
between 1819 and 1820
Dedham Mill was owned by the Constable family. These studies were made for a composition that was ultimately abandoned, but they reveal the artist’s process at work. The larger study shows a wider view of the landscape, anchoring the composition with the group of trees to the right rather than the left, though the spire of Dedham church remains the focus. In the late nineteenth century, both these studies were acquired by French collectors, bringing Constable into the company of the Barbizon School and Impressionist painters who wereinfluenced by his work.
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven · Image: Yale Center for British Art, Public domain · Text: Yale Center for British Art, CC0