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A storm off the coast with inscription 'Painted by/John Constable, R.A./given to Alice Fenwick by/Isabel Constable' (on the reverse) oil on paper, laid down on card 101/8 x 143/8 in. (25.7 x 36.5 cm.) PROVENANCE Isabel Constable, by whom given to Alice Fenwick, and by descent to Major C.W. Maffett, and by descent to Mrs. D.H. Maffett Will Trust; Christie's, London, 19 November 1982, lot 47 (sold œ80,000). with Thos. Agnew & Sons, London, from whom purchased by the present vendor. LITERATURE L. Parris, 'Some recently discovered oil sketches by John Constable', Burlington Magazine, April 1983, p. 223. G. Reynolds, The Later Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, London, 1984, no. 24.70, pl. 541. NOTES This oil sketch was one of five given by Isabel Constable, the artist's daughter to Alice Fenwick. The latter's father, Harry Ashby, was an artist and engraver and a friend of Constable. It remained in the family until sold at Christie's in 1982. Graham Reynolds compares this vigorous and powerful sketch to two similar scenes in the collection of the Royal Academy, London ( op. cit., pls. 538, see fig. 1, and 539) and notes that this small group was painted between 1824 and 1828 while the artist was in Brighton. In these Constable explores his traditional interest in meteorological effects, but in the rare context of the sea rather than the more familiar one of land. The tiny boats set against the vast sky and stormy sea show a typical romantic preoccupation with the frailty of human endeavour in the face of elemental forces.