Mill Near Brighton
Medium
Mezzotint with drypoint; proof before published state
Dimensions
Image: 5 3/4 × 4 1/2 in. (14.6 × 11.4 cm) Sheet (trimmed within plate): 6 15/16 × 4 3/4 in. (17.6 × 12.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1939
Accession Number
39.68.5
Tags
Art Historical Context
This evocative print captures a windmill near Brighton, rendered in delicate mezzotint with drypoint by engraver David Lucas after a design by the celebrated English landscape painter John Constable. Created in 1829 as a proof before the published state, the work showcases Constable’s deep affinity for rural scenes and the atmospheric effects light and weather. Though best known for his oil paintings of the English countryside, Constable collaborated extensively with Lucas on a series of mezzotints that brought his compositions to a wider audience. Mezzotint, prized for its rich tonal range a...
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...