Yale Center for British Art

Creator:
John Constable, 1776–1837, British
Title:
Rushes by a pool
Date:
ca. 1821
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on paper on board
Dimensions:
9 x 11 3/4 inches (22.9 x 29.8 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.151
Classification:
Paintings
Collection:
Paintings and Sculpture
Subject Terms:
plants | stream | river | pool | water | botany | white (color) | science
Currently On View:
Not on view
Exhibition History:
Masters of British Painting: John Constable (Musée du Louvre, 2002-10-08 - 2003-01-13)

John Constable - A Selection of Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon (National Gallery of Art, 1969-04-30 - 1969-11-01)
Publications:
Malcolm Cormack, Concise Catalogue of Paintings in the Yale Center for British Art, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1985, pp. 60-61, N590.2 .A83 (YCBA)

Robert Hoozee, L'opera completa di Constable, 98, Rizzoli, Milano, Italy, 1979, p. 147, no. 599, NJ18 C74 A12 +H66 (YCBA)

John Constable : a selection of paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, , National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1969, p. 40-41, no. 38, NJ18 C74 U5 (YCBA)

Graham Reynolds, The later paintings and drawings of John Constable, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1984, p.90 (v.1), no. 21.84, pl. 282 (v.2), NJ18 C74 R485 + (YCBA)

Charles Rhyne, Constable Drawings and Watercolors in the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and the Yale Center for British Art, Part I. Authentic Works , Master Drawings, vol. 19, Master Drawings Association, Inc., 1981, p. 140, note 2, NC1 M37 19 (YCBA)
Provenance:
Created by John Constable (1776-1837), the artist; possibly by descent to his daughter, Isabel Constable (1822-1888); possibly by descent to her niece, Ella Nafeeseh Mackinnon (née Constable, 1865-1934) [a]; possibly acquired by Ernest Alfred Colquhoun (1852-1930); possibly (lot 114, 'Study of Reeds') purchased at auction by "Millus" at Christie, Manson & Woods, London, England, May 28, 1891 [1] [b]; …; acquired by Camille Groult (1832-1908), Paris; by descent to his son, Jean Groult (1868-1951), Paris [2]; by descent to his son, Pierre Bordeaux-Groult (1916-2007), Paris [3]; privately purchased by Paul Mellon (1907-1999), 1965 [c]; by whom given to the Yale Center for British Art, 1981. Notes: --- [1] Graham Reynolds writes "it is interesting to note that lot 114 in the sale of works from the collection of Isabel Constable…was a 'Study of Reeds'" in The later paintings and drawings of John Constable (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984), 1:90, https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/orbis:582470. Reynolds also notes Isabel Constable's executors exhibited a similarly-titled work of slightly smaller dimensions at Grosvenor Gallery in 1889. See no. 286 in A Century of British Art, (London: Henry Good & Son, 1889), 106, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/gri.ark:/13960/t5v73275v. The works at Grosvenor Gallery were put up for sale anonymously by Ernest Alfred Colquhoun under Isabel's name at the May 1891 Christie's auction; some of these, per Reynolds, first belonged to Ella Mackinnon. [2] No Constable paintings were sold in the anonymous Camille Groult sale of 1920, suggesting they remained in Jean Groult's collection until his death, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k320715g. [3] No Constable paintings are invoked in Jean Groult's 1952 sale, suggesting they remained in the family until Paul Mellon's purchase in 1965, https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000289429. Citations: --- [a] Graham Reynolds, The later paintings and drawings of John Constable, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1984, p.90 (v.1), no. 21.84 [b] Christie, Manson & Woods. May 28, 1891. Works of the Late John Constable ...property of Miss Isabel Constable. https://doi.org/10.1163/2210-7886_ASC-50027 [c] Graham Reynolds, The later paintings and drawings of John Constable, 1984, p.90
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:662