Mill Near Brighton
Medium
Mezzotint; proof before published state
Dimensions
Image: 5 3/4 × 4 1/2 in. (14.6 × 11.4 cm) Plate: 7 1/16 × 4 13/16 in. (17.9 × 12.2 cm) Sheet: 17 9/16 × 11 7/8 in. (44.6 × 30.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1938
Accession Number
38.23.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
"Mill Near Brighton" (1829) is a captivating mezzotint proof created through the collaboration of two British masters: painter John Constable and engraver David Lucas. Constable, a leading Romantic artist renowned for his luminous depictions of the English countryside, provided the original composition, while Lucas meticulously translated it into print. This proof, an early state before the final published version captures a quaint windmill near the Sussex coast, evoking the serene rural life that Constable cherished amid the encroaching Industrial Revolution. Mezzotint, Lucas's specialty, re...
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...