John CONSTABLE, Cloud study 6 September 1822

Constable painted two cloud studies at Hampstead on 6 September: this one at noon, and another between 12.00 and 1.00 o’clock (private collection). TimothyWilcox hassuggested that it would have been difficult for Constable to paint the two works in such quick succession, and that the hot and fine weather in this work is inconsistent with ‘the look of rain all morning’ inscribed on the second work. He has proposed that ‘noon’ may indicate the afternoon, rather than midday (Liverpool and Edinburgh 2000, p. 84). There is good agreement between Constable’s inscription here and the weather records for the London area on that day, with the temperature in the low 70s and a gentle wind (Thornes 1999, p. 267).