Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.43
Gallery Label:
Malvern Hall, in Solihull, Warwickshire, was the country seat of Henry Greswolde Lewis, a wealthy widower who gave John Constable a number of commissions over a period of twenty years. In 1820, Lewis’s sister Magdalene, Dowager Countess of Dysart, (who grew up in the house) asked the artist to paint views of both sides. This is a fullsized preparatory sketch, possibly painted outdoors, for his view of the front entrance. The finished painting for Lady Dysart is now in the collection of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016