John Constable

Better known today for his dense, atmospheric landscapes, English artist John Constable at one time painted portraits as his professional bread and butter. Here he renders his subject with great sympathy, softly depicting her dark curls, fair complexion, and sweet smile. Skilled at portraying textures, Constable lavishly evokes the sheen of her striped dress and the laces that adorn her bonnet, shawl, collar, and cuffs. 

Few details are known about this commission—only that this sitter, Mrs. Edwards, and her mother were painted around the same time. 

–Maureen C. O’Brien, Frank Robinson Curator of Painting and Sculpture

Constable is well-known as the leading master of English landscape painting. His fame as such has until recently overshadowed his achievements as a portrait painter. Though he rarely showed his portraits in the Royal Academy exhibitions and seldom commented in his correspondence on the over eighty he painted, they are distinguished by a lively, free handling of paint which gives the sitter a certain vitality and spirit. The subject of this picture is the daughter of Mrs. Tuder, whose portrait, also by Constable, hangs in the Cannon Hall Museum, Barnsley, England. Constable probably painted the two portraits at the same time in 1818.