Constable sketch sells for £87,500 at auction

The river landscape includes a castle in the distance which has been identified as Framlingham Castle

A landscape sketch by Constable has sold for £87,500, ten times more than its pre-auction estimate.

The pencil drawing includes a view of Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, which is 30 miles from where the artist lived at East Bergholt.

Constable is famous for landscape paintings such as The Hay Wain.

Suzanne Zack, art expert at Chiswick Auctions, said the drawing has gone to a private collector in the UK "who fell in love with it".

John Constable would sketch his wife Maria to remind himself of her when he was travelling

Ms Zack said: "The private collector was extra keen to acquire a work by John Constable, particularly a landscape.

"She also knows Suffolk and she is absolutely thrilled to have acquired it."

The sketch had a pre-sale estimate of £6,000 to £8,000 and was last sold in 1949.

It was put forward for verification by a private collector and found to be by the renowned English landscape painter.

A portrait of Constable's uncle Abram was valued at £50,000 but did not sell

The drawing was one of three Constable pieces which went under the hammer.

A sketch of his wife Maria Elizabeth Bicknell, which was expected to reach £12,000 was sold for £10,625.

An oil portrait of his uncle, Abram Constable was valued at £50,000 but did not sell.

Both works came from the collection of the late art historian Ronald Brymer Beckett, who edited Constable's letters.