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Hampstead Heath with Bathers

ca. 1821–22
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 808
Constable painted in the open spaces of then-rural Hampstead in order to escape London's intense summer heat. This is one of about one hundred sketches he made there in 1821–22, in which he attempted to convey specific atmospheric effects. On the back of the painting he noted: "July—noon—Hampstead Heath—looking north—wind south east." Constable referred to the practice of painting these works as "skying," although he often included a strip of land to contribute a sense of scale and depth.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Hampstead Heath with Bathers
  • Artist: John Constable (British, East Bergholt 1776–1837 Hampstead)
  • Date: ca. 1821–22
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 9 5/8 x 15 3/8 in. (24.4 x 39.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Thaw Collection, Jointly Owned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Morgan Library & Museum, Gift of Eugene V. Thaw, 2009
  • Object Number: 2009.400.26
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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Young pollards, John Constable British, Black chalk
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A Mill Near Colchester, John Constable British, Watercolor over traces of graphite, with scratching out and a touch of pen and brown ink on the horizon, evidence of squaring for transfer in graphite, with a color wash test verso
A Mill Near Colchester
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Stoke-by-Nayland, John Constable British, Oil on canvas
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