William George Jennings Heath Scene with Pond

An original c.1830 watercolour painting, William George Jennings, Heath Scene with Pond.

A spirited landscape sketch by William George Jennings (1763–1854), possibly Hampstead ponds. Jennings held a deep affection for Hampstead and it is the subject of much of Jennings's work.

Jennings's early topographical work was in the manner of Richard Wilson and Joseph Farington, but from around 1826 Jennings became a friend and patron of John Constable. The two artists shared a house and Constable was to have a profound influence on Jennings's style.

Constable intensively studied the atmospheric effects of clouds during his 'skying' period 1821–2, when he produced dozens of watercolour, crayon and oil studies of the clouds over Hampstead Heath—a landscape to which the pair shared an attachment.

Although Old Jennings—as Constable referred to him—was a gentleman amateur, he nevertheless was instrumental in bolstering the younger artist's confidence and in supporting him with his patronage. In the 1830s Jennings bought two paintings from Constable, a ‘Yarmouth Jetty’ and ‘Hampstead Heath with a Rainbow’, the latter of which is now in the Tate.

For a Hampstead subject by Jennings somewhat similar to the present composition see Tate, T03349, Heath Scene with a Pond c.1831. The Tate scene is described 'as an imaginary landscape loosely based on the scenery of Hampstead Heath. The pond may be intended for Branch Hill Pond, frequently painted by Constable, whose very last depiction of it was to be in the ‘Hampstead Heath with a Rainbow’ Jennings acquired in 1836'.

William George Jennings exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1797 and 1806 and at the Society of British Artists in 1830.

Provenance: From the Collection of Dr E.M. Brett of Hampstead. Abbott & Holder, 30 Museum Street, WC1A 1LH. Ex. coll. Cornish Torbock.

In watercolour with graphite underdrawing.