The Royal Academy is to exhibit the first artwork by a Constable in 200 years – in the form of a drawing by a seven-year-old descendant of The Hay Wain painter.
Valya Constable, the great-great-great-great-grandson of John Constable, has had his sketch of his grandmother’s feet and legs accepted by the prestigious art institution.
It will form part of a young artists’ exhibition and will go on display next week.
His mother Sasha, who is also an artist, said it is the first time a member of the family will have exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art since the time of the famous English landscape painter.
Valya was aged six when he drew ‘Portrait of Nana’ and told his 76-year-old grandmother, Valerie Constable, that he ran out of paper to draw the rest of her.
Valya Constable (pictured with grandmother Valeria and mother Sasha) will be the first in his family to have work exhibited at the Royal Academy since his ancestor artist John Constable
Valya, 7, created this drawing of his grandmother’s legs and feet using a pen and paper
John Constable and the English countryside
Pictured: John Constable
Artist John Constable was born in Suffolk in 1776 and was best known for his paintings of the English countryside.
Although he was meant to work in his father’s milling and merchant business, Constable was granted permission to pursue a career in art.
In March 1799, Constable began studying at the Royal Academy in London and showed an affinity for landscape painting from the beginning. His work was first exhibited at the Academy in 1802.
During his career, he created hundreds of landscape oil sketches, retreating to his native Suffolk to paint scenes he knew well and loved.
Although he received little prominent recognition in England, he was much better known in France and his famous work, the Hay Wain, won a gold medal at the Salon in Paris.
The ‘six-footers’ are among the best-known works by Constable comprise the famous series of views on the river Stour, which includes The Hay Wain, as well as more expressive later works such as Hadleigh Castle 1829 and Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows 1831.
The Year Three pupil, from Cerne Abbas, near Dorchester, Dorset, has been drawing since he was two and has clearly inherited the family talent.
The young artist’s work is very different from his famous ancestor’s iconic landscapes of Dedham Vale.
Valya draws mostly with pens and often creates scenes from his vivid imagination.
Earlier this year he had three drawings in a Young Artists’ exhibition in Dorset and received a Highly Commended for his work.
Following that success, Sasha, 50, submitted three more drawings to the Royal Academy.
Sasha, a sculptor and art teacher, said: ‘My son has been drawing since he was about two.
‘He’s very good and lots of people have commented on his talent so this year I thought I would actually look into some competitions and exhibitions.
‘I submitted three to the Royal Academy and this one was accepted.
‘It was actually hard to choose as he’s drawing all the time so we have drawers full of pictures but I’m an artist and an art teacher so I can recognise a good piece and this one always stood out.
‘It’s a very simple line drawing. My mum was looking after him that day and he said he was going to draw her portrait.
‘When he showed her it was just her feet and legs and he said he’d run out of paper.
‘She’s quite chuffed that part of her anatomy will be displayed in the Royal Academy.
‘As far as I know he’s the first member of the Constable family to be exhibited there since his great-great-great-great-grandfather.
‘I submitted something in my early 20s, but it wasn’t accepted. My late father did in the 1990s, that was accepted but not hung. And I don’t think my uncle, who was also an artist called John Constable, ever did.’
Valya’s drawings have even started to sell and his mother is using the proceeds to go into a fund to pay for his art supplies.
She added: ‘Valya is a typical young boy – he likes being outdoors, playing with his friends and the iPad is a prominent feature, but he also likes to draw every day.
Valya’s mother Sasha, who is also an artist, says her talented son loves to draw every day
Valya Constable with his drawing which will be exhibited at the Royal Academy next month
‘He just loves drawing and he knows he’s very good at it because his teachers have told him.
‘His headteacher told me she had never come across a child his age that has that ability.
‘I’m not sure if it has completely sunk in for Valya yet what he has achieved. I think it will when we go to see it, he’s never been to the Royal Academy before.
‘I have told him a bit about his ancestor and I’ve always taken him to exhibitions and talked to him about paintings since he was a baby.
‘The artistic ability does seem to run in the family. He’s surrounded by art all the time. I’ve never taught him anything but he watches me doing it.
‘I think it’s lovely to celebrate young creativity. ‘He’s sold two of his drawings already, people love them.’
Valya’s great-great-great-great-grandfather John Constable is most known for the Hay Wain
John Constable persuaded his father, a wealthy corn merchant, to let him pursue an art career in 1799, when he was 23 and joined the Royal Academy school.
Within four years he was exhibiting paintings at the Royal Academy. This year marks the 200th anniversary of Constable’s The Hay Wain, which is regarded as his most famous image.
It was one of a series of paintings called the six-footers – large-scale canvasses he painted for the annual summer exhibitions at the Royal Academy.
The painting now hangs in the National Gallery. The Young Artists Exhibition at the Royal Academy is on from July 13 to August 8.