Stanway Mill, near Colchester

One of the greatest English landscape painters, John Constable is less known for his watercolours. This vibrant sheet is thought to be one of the few he exhibited at the Royal Academy. Close observation of nature and the effects of weather was at the heart of Constable’s art. His mastery at depicting skies is evident from this stormy scene. Dark streaks of rain lash across pale clouds; their diagonal lines, echoed in the mill sails, create a palpable sense of blustery wind.