Unknown landscape painting by Constable discovered A landscape bearing all the hallmarks of 19th century artist John Constable has been confirmed as an original, 20 years […]

A landscape bearing all the hallmarks of 19th century artist John Constable has been confirmed as an original, 20 years after it was dismissed as fake.

An estimated value of £2 million has been placed on the lost work, which is thought to be an oil sketch depicting an alternative view of Constable’s most famous work ‘The Hay Wain’ (1821).

A team from BBC programme Fake or Fortune? were able to track down long-buried sales records to trace the painting’s provenance, while Ultraviolet and Infrared photography and imaging software confirmed it was in keeping with Constable’s techniques.

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The evidence was then presented to two Constable experts who supported the team’s findings, leading to confirmation that the painting was an original.

‘Not deluded’

Programme presenter Philip Mould once owned the painting as a fledgling art dealer back in the 1990s.

Although he had suspicions it was by Constable, Mould failed in his attempts to authenticate the painting.

It was sold to its current owner, a Gloucestershire businessman, for £35,000.

Mould said: “This is a wonderful example of the progress of art history, both scientifically, and in relation to archival access, digitally. I’m really happy to know that I was not deluded.

“I’m thrilled for its owner. And also for Constable himself who must been a little peeved up there that his hand been demoted to an imitator or, more insulting still, a faker.”

The paintings of Constable are notoriously subject to imitation and counterfeit.

The unearthed oil sketch depicts the same cottage on the banks on the river Stour that appears in ‘The Hay Wain’, regarded as Constable’s most iconic painting.

Co-presenter Fiona Bruce added: ” We were lucky enough to gain access to the Getty Institute in Los Angeles where I could for the first time look at original documents that revealed the hidden story of the painting’s journey from Constable through to the present day.”