RARE CONSTABLE NUDE HIDDEN FOR 145 YEARS SELLS FOR £20,000

A FEMALE NUDE SKETCH BY JOHN CONSTABLE HAS RECENTLY SOLD FOR £20,000 AFTER IT WAS COVERED UP FOR 145 YEARS BY ITS PRUDISH OWNER WHO THOUGHT IT WAS TOO RISQUE. THE STUNNING PENCIL DRAWING FEATURING THE BARE BOTTOM OF A NAKED WOMAN WAS PLACED IN AN ALBUM OF OTHER WORKS BY THE ARTIST, AND HAD A DINNER INVITATION PASTED OVER IT. THE OWNER, THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN A BRITISH ARISTOCRAT, DECIDED TO HIDE IT AS SHE DIDN'T WANT TO OFFEND PEOPLE WHEN SHOWING OFF THE ALBUM. DURING THE VICTORIAN TIMES, NUDE ART AND PUBLIC NAKEDNESS WAS CONSIDERED OFFENSIVE AND OBSCENE. UNFORTUNATELY, SHE DIDN'T TELL ANYONE ABOUT IT AND NOBODY KNEW OF ITS EXISTENCE UNTIL 145 YEARS LATER WHEN A LUCKY ART ENTHUSIAST PURCHASED THE ALBUM. THE ART SEALER PEELED OF THE INVITATION TO EXPOSE THE CONSTABLE ORIGINAL, WHICH IS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN DRAWN IN 1808. ALTHOUGH THERE IS SOME MINOR GLUE STAINING ON IT, COVERING IT FOR SO LONG ACTUALLY HELPED PRESERVE THE CONDITION OF THE DRAWING. CONSTABLE WAS FAMED FOR HIS LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS, INCLUDING THE HAY WAIN, BUT HE WAS ALSO AN ACCOMPLISHED PORTRAIT ARTIST AND OCCASIONALLY DREW NUDE FIGURES. THIS ONE CAME UP FOR SALE AT AUCTION AT BONHAM'S LONDON. IT HAD AN ESTIMATE OF ABOUT £5,000 BUT SOLD FOR FOUR TIMES THAT AMOUNT. CHARLIE O'BRIEN, HEAD OF 19th CENTURY PAINTINGS AT BONHAM'S, SAID: 'IT IS A BEAUTIFUL DRAWING AND ALTHOUGH IT WAS DRAWN IN THE EARLY 1880s IT WAS REMARKABLY MODERN FOR ITS TIME. IT HAS A WONDERFUL SENSE OF MOVEMENT, WITH THE WAY THE WOMAN TURNS HER HEAD OVER HER SHOULDER. IT DOES HAVE GREAT RESONANCE WITH COLLECTORS TODAY. THE VICTORIANS' ATTITUDE TO NUDE ART WAS MORE PURITAN THAN TODAY AND THE OWNER OF THIS ALBUM WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THE FIRST TO COVER UP SUCH WORK, ALTHOUGH A MORE INNOCENT DRAWING IS HARD TO IMAGINE. THE ALBUM WAS BOUGHT BY AN ART DEALER YEARS LATER. WHEN HE WAS LOOKING THROUGH IT, THE PREVIOUSLY HIDDEN DRAWING CAME TO LIGHT HIDDEN BENEATH AN INVITATION TO A ROYAL ACADEMY DINNER. WE PUT A VERY CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATE OF BETWEEN £4,000 TO £6,000 ON IT BUT IT WAS BOUGHT BY A PRIVATE LONDON COLLECTOR FOR A LOT MORE THAN THAT."