Hidden Constable revealed behind painting at V&A

A John Constable oil sketch has been discovered by V&A museum experts behind one of his great paintings, where it lay hidden for nearly two centuries.

The discovery was made by conservators preparing works for a major exhibition and it will go on public view for the first time tomorrow. The oil sketch was concealed behind a lining on the reverse of the 18th century British Romantic’s painting Branch Hill Pond: Hampstead, part of the V&A’s permanent collection.

An earlier X-ray of the canvas had revealed traces of another painting behind the pond scene but it was thought to be a draft sketch beneath the oils on the same side.

But as the lining had become loose, conservators Clare Richardson and Nicola Costaras removed it and found the previously hidden sketch, believed to date from about 1821. The 25cm by 40cm sketch is thought to depict a kiln in a clearing in Hampstead fringed by trees and set against a swirling sky.

Constable’s last surviving child, Isabel, donated the remains of her father’s studio contents to the V&A in 1888, with three easel paintings, 92 oil sketches, 297 drawings and water- colours, and three sketchbooks. Dr Mark Evans, the V&A’s senior curator of paintings, called the find “remarkably exciting” and said there are plans to exhibit it next year in a special case so both sides can be seen.

He added: “Constable painted oil sketches as part of the preparatory process of making works of art. These were not meant by him to be exhibited pictures — he was thrifty with materials, often reusing old bits of canvas.”

The oil sketch will be on display in the V&A’s Edwin and Susan Davies Galleries from tomorrow and will form part of its major exhibition opening on September 20, called Constable: The Making of a Master.

The show will examine more than 5,000 etchings collected by Constable, including works by Rembrandt.