Art historian Graham Reynolds, one of the leading experts on the painter John Constable and the author of a number of books on the Constable, including Constable: The Natural Painter and Catalogue of the Constable Collection, has produced a scholarly masterpiece in The Early Paintings and Drawings of John Constable. This two-volume opus includes every known work Constable produced between 1790 and 1816, the period that saw Constable discover his own way of looking at the world and his own approach to rendering it on canvas.

From Library Journal
These two volumes of catalog and plates cover Constable's (1776-1837) paintings and drawings from 1790 to 1816. Reynolds (The Later Paintings & Drawings of John Constable, LJ 2/1/85) provides a short, illuminating explanation of Constable's work during these years. The catalog gives a full description of each work, including size, location, medium, and condition of the canvas (e.g., relined). This information is followed by a short paragraph or two giving all the information known about the subject and its place in Constable's early career. The index is a full compendium that is indispensable to using the volumes; it even lists all the former owners of the works and the sales (with date) in which these pieces were offered. The plates in Volume 2 are beautifully and accurately reproduced. Throughout, the book provides as full a record of Constable's early works and career as one could wish. A model of scholarly accuracy, with detailed information fully and clearly presented, this superb piece of work, well worth the price, should be included in every serious art library.?Martin Chasin, Adult Inst. Bridgeport, Ct.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times Book Review, John Russell
Graham Reynolds book could not be improved upon ... we can follow [Constable's] progress almost day to day and relate it to the great work that was to follow.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal