Artwork
After Constable's Elm
After Constable's Elm is a print by Lucian Freud. It dates from 2003 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
The V&A lent many works to a 2002 Paris show Freud curated himself.
Lucian Freud made this etching in 2003. It’s called *After Constable’s Elm*. He copied an elm tree painting by John Constable from around 1821. Freud tried the same thing as a student but quit. This print shows his later take on Constable’s work.
Freud’s print is more than a copy. It’s a conversation across two centuries. The V&A lent many works to a 2002 Paris show Freud curated himself.
Check out Freud’s other prints at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Overview
Lucian Freud’s 2003 etching *After Constable’s Elm* revisits John Constable’s early‑19th‑century study of an elm trunk. The work translates the original oil painting into a monochrome print, positioning Freud’s hand directly opposite Constable’s in a dialogue that spans two centuries.
Subject & Meaning
The image reproduces the solitary elm that Constable rendered around 1821, yet Freud’s treatment emphasizes line and texture over colour, suggesting a reflective response rather than a straightforward replication. The print can be read as a contemporary artist’s contemplation of a historic landscape motif.
Technique & Style
Executed as an etching, Freud employs fine incisions and varied hatching to convey the bark’s rugged surface. The stark contrast between dark outlines and lighter areas underscores the tree’s form, while the medium’s inherent grain adds a tactile quality absent from the original watercolor study.
History & Provenance
Constable’s original painting entered the Victoria & Albert Museum’s collection in 1888, bequeathed by his daughter Isabel. Freud first attempted a copy of the work while a student but abandoned it due to its difficulty. Decades later, he produced the etching for the 2002 Paris retrospective of Constable’s work, which the V&A loaned extensively for the show.
Context
The Paris exhibition, curated by William Feaver, featured a catalogue that included a recorded conversation between Freud and the curator, later translated and printed by the British Council in *Freud on Constable*. The etching was created specifically for that publication, linking the visual and textual discussions of the two artists.
Artist & collection
Artist
Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, who is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists.
