Hunt on for two missing portraits by Constable
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A hunt was launched yesterday for two rare portraits by John Constable that have been missing for decades.
The British Council wants to display the pictures at an exhibition in Paris that is intended to confirm Constable as one of the great masters of European painting.
His life-size portrait of a toddler, Charles Crawfurd, was last seen when it was sent to the Courtauld Institute in London to be cleaned in 1979. At that point it belonged to the Crawfurd family, from East Grinstead in Sussex, and it is believed that they probably still have it in their possession.
The other picture is a sketch of the painter's sister, Ann Constable, in her garden at East Bergholt, Suffolk – Constable's birthplace. The painting was last heard of in 1984, when it was sold at auction at Christie's. It is believed to be in Yorkshire.
If they are found, the works will be exhibited at the Galeries Nationale du Grand Palais in Paris in October, along with Constable's masterpiece, The Hay Wain, which was last shown outside Britain at the Paris Salon in 1824.
Andrea Rose, the British Council's head of visual arts, said: "The exhibition will show that Constable wasn't just an English landscape painter, he's a great European painter. People don't think of Constable in terms of peopled landscapes, but this will plant England of that period very vividly before the people of France."
The council is particularly delighted that the artist Lucian Freud will be choosing the works, because he has never curated an exhibition before apart from his own show at the National Gallery.
"He has the most wonderful eye," Ms Rose said. "Anyone who has ever looked at pictures with Freud will know it's a rare privilege."
She said being able to include The Hay Wain in the exhibition was "a phenomenal coup" and that it was "England's Mona Lisa, the absolute epitome of Englishness".
The British Council?s plans for 2002 include an exhibition featuring children's book illustrations by Raymond Briggs, Posy Simmonds, Quentin Blake and others, which will be shown in Newcastle and London before touring overseas.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments