Previously unknown John Constable work sells for £300k at auction

A previously unknown work by one of the UK’s best-known landscape painters has sold for more than £300,000 at auction, beating forecasts.

The sketch by John Constable, titled Dedham Vale looking towards Langham, sold for £320,000 at a North Yorkshire auction house on Saturday, far surpassing its estimated price of £150,000-£200,000.

The work, which is believed to have been painted between 1809-14, had been kept in a private family collection before being put up for sale at Tennants Auctioneers in Leyburn.

Jane Tennant, director and auctioneer at Tennants, said the discovery of the painting had been a source of “great excitement” in the auction world.

She said: “It’s certainly exciting that it’s a painting that hasn’t previously been recorded in any of the Constable literature.”

Constable, who died aged 60 in 1837, lived and painted in the Dedham Vale on the border of Essex and Suffolk, and is known for his depictions of the surrounding landscape.

He is best known for his 1821 oil painting The Hay Wain which became a sensation in the art world after winning a gold medal at the Paris Salon in 1824.

Dedham Vale looking towards Langham, measuring 12in by 15in (30cm by 38cm), is thought to be the basis of Constable’s oil painting Dedham Vale, which was completed in 1825 and is part of the Scottish National Gallery’s permanent collection.

Ms Tennant said: “Oil sketches, much like drawings, have an immediacy – a direct link to the mind and working practices of an artist.”