Beached fishing smacks at low tide, Brighton, with fishermen sorting their nets in the foreground (recto); and Study of a fishing boat (verso)

This previously unrecorded drawing relates to the group of studies of fishing vessels executed at Brighton, see G. Reynolds, The Later Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, Yale, New Haven and London, 1984, nos. 24.89-24.93, pls. 567-571. The drawings were executed in 1824 on Whatman Turkey Mill paper, dated 1821. 1824 had been an extraordinary year for Constable from the point of view of commissions and strengthening his professional position. For his holiday that year, rather than visiting his friend Fisher he went with his family to Brighton for three months. Initially Constable was not enamoured by the Sussex coastal landscape but ultimately concentrated on drawing subjects revolving around life on the beach, figures and shipping.