Approaching Storm, View on the Thames
Medium
Mezzotint on chine collé; proof before published state
Dimensions
Image: 2 15/16 × 4 7/16 in. (7.5 × 11.3 cm) Plate: 4 × 5 1/4 in. (10.2 × 13.3 cm) Sheet: 10 in. × 13 3/4 in. (25.4 × 34.9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1939
Accession Number
39.68.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
"Approaching Storm, View the Thames" (1829) captures John Constable's masterful eye for dramatic English weather in a intimate print format. Created by engraver David Lucas after Constable's original composition, it depicts a moody Thames riverside scene with boats bobbing on choppy waters, distant figures, and a brooding sky signaling an imminent storm. Constable, a leading Romantic artist, was renowned for his luminous landscapes that celebrated nature's fleeting moods, often sketched en plein air along the Thames. This rare proof before the published state showcases Lucas's virtuoso mezzot...
About the Artist
David Lucas|John Constable · 1802–1881
**David Lucas (1802–1881)** David Lucas was born in 1802 in Geddington Chase, Northamptonshire, the son of a farmer.) A chance encounter in 1820 led him to become a pupil of the renowned engraver Samuel William Reynolds, under whom he apprenticed in London until 1827, mastering the art of mezzotint engraving.) By 1827, Lucas had published his first mezzotints, showcasing his precocious talent for...