The Stour Valley with the Church of Dedham
A view from the top of Fen lane over the valley towards Dedham.
Constable’s landscapes capture specific locations of the English counties where he lived and worked.
- 34
- 1814
- 55.6cm x 77.8cm
- Museum of Art, Boston
- Oil on Canvas
- 225
- Oil on Canvas, 1814, 55.6cm x 77.8cm, Museum of Art, Boston
- Well Known
- 51.96788,1.01288
Details
On occasion mistaken as ‘ Dedham Vale Morning’, this piece painted from the grounds of Constable’s neighbours The Godfreys at Old Hall, takes the vantage point on a hill behind the estate and over the valley towards Dedham, with Dedham church in the centre.
This piece commissioned by Thomas Fitzhugh as a wedding present for his bride, Philadelphia Godfrey.
Around this time Constable wrote: ‘This charming season … occupies me entirely in the fields and I believe I have made some landscapes that are better than is usual with me – at least that is the opinion of all here‘
PROVENANCE
1814, commissioned by Thomas Fitzhugh (b. 1770 – d. 1856) for his wife, Philadelphia Godfrey Fitzhugh (d. 1869), Plas Power, Denbighshire, sold by Stephen Thomas Gooden (dealer; b. 1856 – d. 1909), London to Thomas Agnew and Sons, London; September 11, 1897, sold by Agnew to George Jay Gould (b. 1864 – d. 1923), New York. Between about 1904 and 1920 Alice Throckmorton McLean (b. 1886 – d. 1968), New York; about 1948, sold by Alice McLean to John Mitchell (dealer), New York; 1948, sold by John Mitchell to the MFA for $16,250. (Accession Date: March 11, 1948)
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
- 34
- 1814
- 55.6cm x 77.8cm
- Museum of Art, Boston
- Oil on Canvas
- 225
- Oil on Canvas, 1814, 55.6cm x 77.8cm, Museum of Art, Boston
- Well Known
- 51.96788,1.01288