Somerset House

In this painting, Constable depicts one of London’s iconic buildings, with boats moored at its entrance arches. The north wing of Somerset House was the home of the Royal Academy when Constable painted this sketch. The small inlet in which the boats are moored in the sketch was actually built over in about 1830 when Somerset House was completed.

In this sketch Constable emphasises the great mass of the building, and animates the scene with the reflection of the sky on the water as well as including brightly coloured figures in foreground.