Constable honoured with blue plaque at his old Brighton lodgings
A blue plaque is being unveiled at a house in Brighton where the artist John Constable lived and painted.
His great-great-grandson Richard Constable is due to unveil the plaque in a ceremony on Friday (5 July) at 1pm.
Constable (1776-1837) was productive and successful during his time in Brighton although the whereabouts of his “painting room” was an unsolved mystery.
He lived and worked in Brighton from 1824-28 at 9 Mrs Sober’s Gardens, producing about 200 works.
While he was here he painted West Blatchington windmill in Blatchington near Brighton 1825. He also painted The Chain Pier 1827 and Brighton Beach as well as a number of seascapes. None eclipsed The Hay Wain, his most famous work.
New research made the link between Constable’s famous correspondence address and deeds to houses in what is now Sillwood Road, Brighton.
The street name and the number and the façade of the little Regency house have all been altered but the internal layout is unchanged since 1823.
Two artists, Peter Harrap and his partner Natasha Kissell, now use Constable’s light-filled top floor painting room as their own studio.
Mr Harrap plans to curate an exhibition “John Constable in Brighton” from April to October 2017 at Brighton Museum.
