Provenance
Henry Field (died 1890), Chicago; his widow Mrs. Florence Lathrop Field; given to the Art Institute, 1894.
Accession Number
879
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
71.5 × 92 cm (28 1/4 × 36 in.); Framed: 116.3 × 135.9 × 14 cm (45 3/4 × 53 1/2 × 5 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Henry Field Memorial Collection
Background & Context
Background Story
An oil painting by Constable depicting a lock on the River Stour, combining topographic accuracy with atmospheric truth and broken brushwork that captures the effects of English light and weather on the working landscape of his native Suffolk.
Cultural Impact
Constables lock paintings are among the most influential works in the history of landscape painting, demonstrating that the working infrastructure of the English countryside could provide subjects of genuine pictorial interest and emotional depth. His broken brushwork and atmospheric truth influenced landscape painting from Delacroix to the Impressionists.
Why It Matters
Constable oil painting of a lock on the Stour, atmospheric truth and broken brushwork in the working English landscape.
