Cloud Study

John Constable produced over one hundred sketches of the sky en plein air, an exercise that he described as “skying.” In 1821 he began sketching pure cloud studies in oil that omit the horizon altogether, possibly the first recorded example of which is on display in this gallery. Constable often noted the season, time of day, wind direction, and other weather conditions on the back of his studies, a practice that suggests interest in the emerging science of meteorology. Although clouds feature prominently in his exhibition pictures, these studies were not conceived for particular compositions. Constable never intended them for public display, but, with their focus on nature’s most ephemeral occurrences, they are symptomatic of the contemporary conviction that spontaneous and fragmentary compositions have a greater capacity to engage the viewer’s imagination than finished paintings.