A Stand of Elm Trees (recto); A Study of East Bergholt with the Church (verso)

John Constable's double-sided drawing A Stand of Elm Trees (recto) and A Study of East Bergholt with the Church (verso) (c. 1802) is a black chalk drawing on pale gray laid paper, with graphite on the verso. The recto shows a stand of elm trees, their trunks and branches rendered with the careful observation of natural forms that would distinguish Constable's entire career. The verso shows a study of East Bergholt, the Suffolk village where Constable was born, with the church visible. The double-sided nature of this early sheet is particularly valuable, showing the young artist studying both natural forms and the built landscape of his native village. The pale gray laid paper provides a neutral ground. This drawing from around 1802, when Constable was 26 and still finding his way as an artist, already shows the intense observation of nature that would make him one of the greatest landscape painters in the history of art. The elm trees and the village church are the subjects that would occupy him for the rest of his career.

Constable's early drawings document the formation of his artistic vision, showing the subjects and the approach to observation that would define his mature work.

This double-sided drawing captures two of Constable's enduring subjects: the elm trees of the English countryside and the village church of his native East Bergholt, both rendered with the careful observation that would make him England's greatest landscape painter.