Frontispiece: East Bergholt, Suffolk
- Artist: John Constable
- Artist: David Lucas
- Medium: Mezzotint on paper
- Dimensions: image: 139 x 187 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the “Frontispiece: East Bergholt, Suffolk” by John Constable and David Lucas. In the 1830s Constable launched a series of prints based on his own landscapes, working with the engraver Lucas. For the frontispiece he chose a twilight view of East Bergholt House. In the foreground a sketchbook or pencil‑drawn figure shows Constable himself sketching the scene. The mezzotint technique, which layers ink from dark to light, lets us see the interplay of fading evening light across the house, the tree, the pool and the subtle shadows. A Latin inscription around the plate celebrates the place as the site of Constable’s early inspiration and the beginning of his fame. Translated it reads: “This spot saw the day spring of my Life, Hours of Joy, and years of Happiness… This place first tinged my boyish fancy with a love of the art… This place was the origin of my fame.” The print was first issued in 1832 as part of the “English Landscape” collection, a series that combined Constable’s oil sketches with Lucas’s skilful mezzotint engraving. It shows how the artist used printmaking to translate his dramatic landscape tones to a wider audience.
See it in person
Frontispiece: East Bergholt, Suffolk is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
