Constable's great-great-great-great grandson, seven, has artwork accepted by ...

Constable's great-great-great-great grandson, seven, has artwork accepted by ...
Constable's great-great-great-great grandson, seven, has artwork accepted by ...

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 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

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

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.

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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,

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