Malvern Hall, Warwickshire - YCBA Collections Search

John Constable, 1776–1837, British, Malvern Hall, Warwickshire, 1820 to 1821

Creator:: John Constable, 1776–1837
Title:: Malvern Hall, Warwickshire
Former Title(s):: Malvern Hall: the Entrance Front
Date:: 1820 to 1821
Medium:: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:: 21 1/2 x 30 3/4 inches (54.6 x 78.1 cm), Frame: 28 3/4 × 38 1/4 × 3 inches (73 × 97.2 × 7.6 cm)
Credit Line:: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:: Public Domain
Accession Number:: B1977.14.43
Classification:: Paintings
Collection:: Paintings and Sculpture
Link to Frame:: B1977.14.43FR
Subject Terms:: architectural subject | architecture | clouds | country house | facade | gardens | gate | gates | grasses | gray (color) | green (color) | house | landscape | sky | statues | trees
Associated Places:: England | Europe | Solihull | United Kingdom | Warwickshire
Access:: Not on view
Link:: https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:4937
Export:: XML
IIIF Manifest:: JSON

Malvern Hall, in Solihull, Warwickshire, was the country seat of Henry Greswolde Lewis, a wealthy widower who gave John Constable a number of commissions over a period of twenty years. In 1820, Lewis’s sister Magdalene, Dowager Countess of Dysart, (who grew up in the house) asked the artist to paint views of both sides. This is a fullsized preparatory sketch, possibly painted outdoors, for his view of the front entrance. The finished painting for Lady Dysart is now in the collection of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016

Malvern Hall, Solihull, Warwickshire, was the seat of Henry Greswolde Lewis, a wealthy widower who gave Constable a number of commissions over a period of twenty years. In 1820 Lewis's sister Magdalene, Dowager Countess of Dysart-who had grown up in the house-asked Constable to paint views of both sides. This is a full-size preparatory sketch, possibly painted outdoors, for his view of the entrance front. The more finished work done for the Lady Dysart is now in the collection of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2005

Created by John Constable (1776-1837), the artist; by descent to his daughter, Isabel Constable (1822-1888); purchased at auction by Gooden & Fox at Christie, Manson & Woods, London, England, June 17, 1892 (lot 265, 'Malverne Hall'), in "Works of the late John Constable, R.A." [a]; …; acquired by Paul-Arthur Cheramy (1840-1912), Rue Pelouze, Paris, France, by 1908 [b]; purchased at auction by Simon Oppenheimer at Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, France, May 5-7, 1908 (lot 8, 'Malvern-Hall'), in "Tableaux anciens et modernes” for Otto Gerstenberg (1848-1935), Berlin, Germany [1] [c]; by descent to his daughter, Margarethe Elisabeth Scharf (1889-1961), April 24, 1935; by descent to her son, Walther Scharf (1923-1996); acquired by Dr. Fritz Nathan (1895-1972) and Dr. Peter Nathan (1925-2001), Zürich, Switzerland [2]; acquired by Dr. Robert Bühler (1902-1971), Winterthur, Zürich, Switzerland; …; purchased by Eugene Victor Thaw (1927-2017) of E. V. Thaw & Co., New York for Paul Mellon (1907-1999), April 1977; by whom given to the Yale Center for British Art, December 29, 1977.

Notes:
[1] Simon Oppenheimer was executive director at the Paris branch office of the German insurance company Victoria, headed by Otto Gerstenberg after 1891. He was one of three trusted lieutenants empowered to collect for Gerstenberg, alongside Heinrich Stahl–another Victoria department director–and Gerstenberg's secretary. See Thomas Gaehtgens and Julietta Scharf, "Die Sammlung Otto Gerstenberg in Berlin," in Die Moderne und ihre Sammler: Französische Kunst in deutschem Privatbesitz vom Kaiserreich zur Weimarer Republik, eds. Andrea Pophanken and Felix Billeter (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2001), 163, https://doi.org/10.1524/9783050078755

[2] Dr. Fritz and Peter Nathan operated the gallery by their names in Zürich from 1953 until Fritz's death in 1972. Peter, Fritz's son, opened his own firm in Zürich, the "Neue Galerie," together with the Gerstenberg heir Walther Scharf. Their partnership may explain the connection between the Scharfs and the Nathans. Neue Galerie closed shortly after Fritz's death, so Nathan could open his own solo firm "Galerie Nathan," active until 1989. Fritz Nathan during his life arranged the sale of works from Gerstenberg's estate, particularly for the Swiss collector Oskar Reinhart. Dr. Robert Bühler influenced the establishment of Reinhart's foundation, suggesting a link between Bühler and the Nathans through his work for Reinhart, although Reinhart is not invoked here.

Citations:
[a] Christie, Manson & Woods. June 17, 1892. Works of the late John Constable, R.A. https://doi.org/10.1163/2210-7886_ASC-50958

[b] Julius Meier-Graefe and Erich Klossowski, La collection Chéramy: catalogue raisonné, précédé d'études sur les maîtres principaux de la collection (Munich: R. Piper & Co, 1908), 62, https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k62325352/f78

[c] Galerie Georges Petit. May 5-7, 1908. Catalogue des tableaux anciens et modernes, aquarelles, pastels, dessins... Très importante collection d'œuvres de Constable et d'Eugène Delacroix, primitifs italiens composant la collection P.-A. Cheramy https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52508125j/f34

Richard Wilson and the Transformation of European Landscape Painting (Yale Center for British Art, 2014-03-06 - 2014-06-01) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Constable - Impressions of Land, Sea and Sky (National Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, 2006-07-07 - 2006-10-08) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Constable - Impressions of Land, Sea and Sky (National Gallery of Australia, 2006-03-03 - 2006-06-12) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Canaletto to Constable: Paintings of Town and Country from the Yale Center for British Art (Ferrara Galleries of Modern & Contemporary Art, 2001-02-25 - 2001-05-20) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Canaletto to Constable: Paintings of Town and Country from the Yale Center for British Art (The Grand Rapids Art Museum, 1999-10-22 - 2000-01-02) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Canaletto to Constable: Paintings of Town and Country from the Yale Center for British Art (Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 1998-02-08 - 1998-04-26) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

John Constable (1776-1837) (Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, LLC, 1988-05-09 - 1988-06-27) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Country Houses in Great Britain - Yale Center for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 1979-10-10 - 1980-01-29) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Acquisitions : The First Decade 1977-1986, Yale Center for British Art , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1986, p. 12, no. 8, N590.2 A7 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Geoffrey Agnew, Yale's 1700 Mellon Pictures, The Times (London), issue no. 59989, Thursday, April 28, 1977, p. 9, Available Online : Times Digital Archive Also available on Microfilm : Film An T842 (SML) [ORBIS]

Canaletto to Constable, paintings of town and country from the Yale Center for British Art , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Conn., 1998, pp.17-19, 105, pl. 40, ND1354.4 Y25 1998 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Centenary exhibition of paintings and water-colours by John Constable, R.A. (1776-1837), May 4th to August 31st, 1937. , Tate Britain, London, UK, 1937, p. 12, no. 7, NJ18 C74 T36 1937 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Paul Arthur Cheramy, La collection Cheramy, catalogue raisonné précédé d'études sur les maitres principaux de la collection , R. Piper et Cie, Munich, 1908, p. 62, no. 56, NJ18 C42328 A12 M45+ (LSF) [ORBIS]

Christie's sale catalogue : Works of the late John Constable, R.A. : 17 June 1892, Christie's, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, June 17, 1892, p. 15, lot 265, Fiche B51 (YCBA) Also available online : Art Sales Catalogues - Lugt # 50958 [YCBA]

Malcolm Cormack, Concise Catalogue of Paintings in the Yale Center for British Art, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1985, pp. 58-59, N590.2 A83 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Malcolm Cormack, Constable, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK & New York, NY, 1986, pp. 32, 122..., pl. 120, NJ18 C74 C75 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Country houses in Great Britain., Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1979, pp. 10-11, 57-58, 118, no. 36, pl. 36, N6764 Y34 1979 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Galerie Georges Petit sale catalogue : Catalogue des tableaux anciens et modernes, aquarelles, pastels, dessins. . . trés importante collection d'œuvres de Constable et d'Eugène Delacroix, primitifs italiens composant la collection P.-A. Cheramy : 5-7 May 1908, Galerie Georges Petit, May 5-7, 1908, p. 16, lot 8, http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52508125j [Website]

Robert Hoozee, L'opera completa di Constable, 98, Rizzoli, Milano, Italy, 1979, pp. 119-20, no. 327, NJ18 C74 A12 +H66 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Charles Robert Leslie, Memoirs of the life of John Constable composed chiefly of his letters, Phaidon Press, London, UK, 1951, P.92, NJ18 C74 L47 1951 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Charles Robert Leslie, Memoirs of the life of John Constable, R.A., The Medici Society, Ltd., London, UK, 1937, p. 111, Pl. 69, NJ18 C74 L47 1937 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Leslie Parris, The Later Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, Book Review , Burlington Magazine, Vol. 127, No.984, March 1985, p. 168, N1 B87 + (YCBA) [YCBA]

Martin Postle, Richard Wilson and the transformation of European landscape painting, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2014, pp. 83, 327, 328, Cat. No. 159, NJ18.W72 R53 2014 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Graham Reynolds, John Constable, R.A. (1776-1837), an exhibition : paintings, drawings, watercolors, mezzotints , Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, LLC, New York, 1988, p.50, pl. 23, NJ18 C74 R497 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Graham Reynolds, The later paintings and drawings of John Constable, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1984, p. 89 (v.1), no. 21.83, pl. 284 (v.2), NJ18 C74 R485 + (YCBA) [YCBA]

Duncan Robinson, Acquisitions : The First Decade 1977 - 1986, , Burlington Magazine, vol. 128, October 1986, p. 12, no. 8, N1 B87 128:3 OVERSIZE (YCBA) [YCBA]

Andrew Shirley, John Constable, R. A., Medical Society, London, 1944, p. 22, no. 69, pl. 69, NJ18 C74 S55 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Basil Taylor, Constable, paintings, drawings and watercolours; , Phaidon, London, UK, 1973, p. 193, note 7, no. 50, NJ18 C74 T39 + (YCBA) [YCBA]

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