Long-Lost Constable Painting to Debut at Salisbury Museum

A rediscovered John Constable painting, View of Salisbury from Harnham Ridge, will go on public view for the first time in decades at Salisbury Museum on June 11. The work, dated to the 1820s, had been in a private collection for over 60 years before being identified by Constable specialist Timothy Wilcox. It depicts the River Avon and Salisbury Cathedral's spire under a dramatic sky. The museum's director Adrian Green called the loan—lasting until 2030—a special moment, noting the museum had never before displayed a Constable long-term. A similar version of the same view belongs to the Louvre. The painting will hang alongside a Constable drawing and works by J.M.W. Turner, whose 250th anniversary was celebrated last year. Other recent Constable rediscoveries include The Cornfield, found in a Texas museum, and a drawing that surfaced at auction in London. In Suffolk, three institutions are planning events for Constable's 250th birthday.