Derbyshire landscape

John Constable

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Traditionally, this drawing has been called a view Derbyshire, a county that Constable visited in 1801. An inscription on the back of the sheet links the view to Lowther Castle, Westmorland, in 1815, although this later date seems unlikely–since the artist's style had changed significantly by that date. In its compositional structure and the handling, the drawing resembles a watercolor view of the Thames from Windsor Castle (now Rhode Island School of Design) made by Constable in 1802. Sensitively applied wash alternates darks with lights to describe trees growlng along rolling hills and to indicate recession. An interst in simplified landscape forms suggests an awareness of the work of a near contemporary Thomas Girtin.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art