Dedham Vale with the River Stour in Flood From the Grounds of Old Hall, East Bergholt by John Constable

Dedham Vale with the River Stour in Flood From the Grounds of Old Hall, East Bergholt - John Constable - Hand Painted Oil Painting

About This Piece

Dedham Vale with the River Stour in Flood From the Grounds of Old Hall, East Bergholt by John Constable is one of those images that never dates. Our studio recreates it as a hand painted oil painting — textured, color-rich, and ready to hang as canvas wall art in a home office, study, or reception area.

Composition & Subject

Painted circa 1814–17, this exceptionally fine painting is a rare masterpiece of Constable’s early period and one of only a small handful of such paintings remaining in private hands. Long mistakenly thought to be by Ramsay Richard Reinagle (1775–1862), a friend and contemporary of Constable’s, recent scientific analysis and up-to-date connoisseurship has unanimously returned the work to its rightful place among the canon of the great master’s work and established beyond doubt its true authorship. It is without question one of the most exciting and important additions to Constable’s ?uvre to have emerged in the last fifty years.

Most likely the picture Constable referred to in a letter of 1814 that was commissioned by Thomas Fitzhugh as a wedding present for his future wife, Philadelphia Godfrey, the daughter of Constable’s near neighbour and an old family friend, the painting appears to have been begun on the spot, en plein air, before being completed in the artist’s studio. The view depicts Dedham Vale, with the River Stour in flood, as seen from the grounds of Old Hall, East Bergholt, the Godfrey family residence. It is handled with a degree of ‘finish’ and an attention to the work of the Old Masters, such as Claude Lorraine, Albert Cuyp and Thomas Gainsborough, that is typical of Constable’s practice in this period.

'I should paint my own places best – Painting is but another word for feeling. I associate my 'careless boyhood' to all that lies on the banks of the Stour. They made me a painter...' John Constable

Constable Country, as it has come to be known today – that area of the Stour Valley around Dedham Vale, on the border between Suffolk and Essex, bounded on the west by the village of Nayland, and on the east by the sea – has become synonymous with the great painter who immortalised its bucolic river meadows and shaded waterways. A fertile and workmanlike landscape centred on the village and parish of Dedham, which had been a prosperous cloth-working town in the Middle Ages, in Constable’s day Dedham Vale was principally an agricultural centre, the main industry being founded on the production of wheat, barley and oats. Encompassing the villages of East Bergholt, Stratford St Mary, Langham and Stoke-by-Nayland, it is today an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and was a part of the country with which Constable was particularly intimate. The artist's parents, Golding and Ann Constable, lived at East Bergholt, where the young painter was born and brought up. A prosperous miller and successful businessman, his father owned watermills at Flatford and Dedham, and a windmill on East Bergholt Heath.

We are grateful to Sarah Cove, who first proposed the attribution to Constable, and Anne Lyles for their assistance with the cataloguing of this lot, and for endorsing the attribution following thorough scientific analysis. We are also grateful to Conal Shields, Professor Michael Rosenthal and Dr Lindsay Stainton for endorsing the attribution following first-hand inspection. A full technical report on this painting by Sarah Cove ACR, Constable Research Project, is available upon request from the department.

Our artists reproduce this landscape composition in oil on canvas by hand, preserving the tonal range that makes landscape oil painting so sought after for a home office.

100% Hand Painted on Canvas

Oil on canvas remains the reference standard for romantic reproductions. Our artists apply pigment by hand, blending the landscape tones directly on the surface for depth that a printed landscape oil painting simply cannot match.

What Is Included

• Genuine hand painted oil painting on premium artist canvas; no printing or digital imaging is used.
• An extra 2-inch blank border is left around all edges for easy stretching and framing.
• No middlemen — we ship directly to you worldwide.
• Quick turnaround — most in-stock landscape paintings ship in 3–10 working days.
• Available canvas sizes for this hand painted oil painting: 20 X 40 in, 24 X 48 in, 30 X 60 in, 36 X 72 in.
• Choose from standard sizes or request a custom dimension to fit your wall.
• Multiple low-cost carriers available, including DHL, UPS, FedEx and USPS.
• Free canvas stretching on wooden stretcher bars; custom framing available on request.
• You will receive a photo of your completed painting by email for sign-off prior to shipping.

Wall Decor & Gifting

romantic canvas wall art is one of the easiest ways to warm a home office. Pair this piece with natural linen, dark wood, or brushed brass, and let the hand painted surface do the rest.

Ordering & Peace of Mind

Browse our John Constable Paintings selection for related landscape canvases, or commission this landscape image in a custom size. Every order is a hand painted oil painting, never a printed poster.