The tower of St. Michael's, Framlingham, Suffolk

Details

John Constable, R.A. (1776-1837)
The tower of St. Michael's, Framlingham, Suffolk
with collector's stamp (on the reverse of the mount)
pencil, unframed
4½ x 2¾ in. (11.4 x 7 cm.)

Provenance

Helvetine Collection.
J.A. White Collection.
Robert Witt Collection.

Exhibited

London, Country Life, Grosvenor Square, 1937.
Oxford, Oxford Arts Club, 1937.
London, Stafford Gallery, 1939.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

This drawing, originally from the collection of Sir Robert Witt (1872-1952), shows the tower of St. Michael's, Framlingham, widely regarded as one of Suffolk's most elegant churches. Constable is believed to have sketched the 16th Century tower in 1812, three years before executing his better known views of Framlingham Castle (in the collections of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and the Courtauld Collection, London). While the church can be seen in the background of some of these drawings, the present work is unique in portraying the tower of the church alone. A good example of his mastery of view, Constable creates airiness and space in this drawing, combining minimal, sketchy notation in the foreground, with crisper, finer definition of the tower in the background.

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