Landscape with rising sun, December 1, 1828, 8:30 a.m.
Joseph Michael Gandy British
Not on view
Gandy made his name as a visionary architect and art theorist but here demonstrates his skills as a plein-air watercolorist. The loose, evocative study of clouds is comparable to works famously made by John Constable during the 1820s. Like other artists with an empirical bent, Gandy carefully recorded the date and time of day on this sheet at upper right in graphite as "SW / Dec 1/28 ½ 8 M"—indicating December 1, 1828, at 8:30 under a southwest wind. Morning or evening are not specified but the scene must be a sunrise, because the sun sets long before eight in England in December. The drawing was once part of an album that belonged to Gandy’s friend and supporter, the sculptor Sir Richard Westmacott.
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