National Gallery of Australia | Audio Tour | Constable

Lucas based this mezzotint on the oil sketch, Autumnal sunset c.1812 . Constable decided to include this subject in English Landscape after talking to C.R. Leslie on 14 September 1829. The next day he wrote to Lucas: ‘we have agreed on a long landscape (Evening with a flight of rookes), as a companion to the “Spring”’ (Beckett IV, p. 322). Lucas had already begun work on the plate in March 1830 when Constable was anxious to see a first proof of it (Beckett IV, p. 326), but it was not published until July 1832. During the proofing the sky was reworked, a line of low-lying clouds added, a tree on the left and corn stooks and stubble in the foreground field were introduced. The towers of Langham Church and Stoke-by-Nayland Church were also added. On 2 June 1832 Constable wrote to Lucas, criticising his poor transcription of the flight of rooks: the Evng – is spoiled owing to your having fooled with the Rooks – they were the chief feature – which caused me to adopt the subject – nobody knew what they are –