Constable sketch expected to fetch up to £200k

A previously unknown sketch by one of the UK's most renowned painters could fetch up to £200,000 at auction.

The work by John Constable was in a private family collection and had not been recorded in literature before it was sent for sale in North Yorkshire.

Measuring 12in by 15in (30cm by 38cm) the work, titled Dedham Vale looking towards Langham, is believed to have been painted between 1809-14.

Jane Tennant, director and auctioneer at Tennants, based in Leyburn, said: "It will cause great excitement, no doubt, in the auction world."

"It's certainly exciting that it's a painting that hasn't previously been recorded in any of the Constable literature," she added.

Constable, who died aged 60 in 1837, is best known for his depiction of the English countryside, particularly his native Suffolk.

He is best known for his 1821oil painting The Hay Wain which became a sensation in the art world after winning a gold medal at the Paris Salon in 1824.

The sketch up for auction is of the countryside near to the painter's home in East Bergholt, on the border of Suffolk and Essex.

"Constable is such an icon of British art history," said Ms Tennant.

"Oil sketches, much like drawings, have an immediacy – a direct link to the mind and working practices of an artist.

"Executed when he was just starting out on his extraordinary career, he has managed to imbue the sketchily painted landscape with such vitality with his deft handling of dramatic light and shade."

It is thought the sketch is the basis of Constable's oil painting Dedham Vale, which he completed in 1825.

The work is due to go under the hammer on 15 March.

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