John Constable, Maudlin, near Chichester, July 18, 1835, graphite on cream wove paper. The Clark, gift of the Manton Art Foundation in memory of Sir Edwin and Lady Manton, 2007.8.53

Despite watercolor’s recognized status as a fashionable and preferred technique for rendering landscape, monochrome landscape also thrived in the hands of British artists such as John Constable, Edward Calvert, and Samuel Palmer. Whether working in the medium of drawing or printmaking, these artists used a paucity of means to evoke the distinct features and ephemeral phenomena of nature. Sir Edwin Manton found a special solace in the landscapes of Constable, having been born in the same region (Essex County in the east of England), and finding a nostalgic affinity for scenes of the English countryside after making his definitive move to the bustling American city of New York at the age of eighteen.