Constable, John (1776-1837)
Cloud Study: Stormy Sunset
1821–1822
Oil on paper on canvas, 20.3 x 27.3 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington
This horizontal painting is filled with gray and white clouds against a blue sky. Wisps of white clouds are interspersed among banks of darker gray clouds against a pale blue sky in the top half of the painting. A tower of gray clouds to the left obscure a deep red circle, which only becomes evident upon careful inspection. Rays of pale shell pink streak down from the clouds along the bottom edge of the painting. (NGA)