About

Join renowned conservator and technical art historian Sarah Cove ACR for a special guest lecture, ‘Fakes and Fortunes (or, have I found a Constable in my attic?)’

Sarah Cove ACR founded the Constable Research Project in conjunction with the V&A Museum in 1986 to study artist John Constable’s materials and techniques from the technical and scientific point of view. Since then, she has examined over 250 works, including some of Constable’s most famous and iconic paintings including The Haywain (1821), The Leaping Horse (1825) and Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831). Sarah has been instrumental in the attribution of three significant Constable oil paintings for BBC1’s Fake or Fortune? series, appearing in 2014 and 2017. In 2014, she set up a Facebook page that is hugely successful in raising awareness of her research, so now she is regularly contacted by people who think they have a found a previously unknown Constable. Some have, some have not, as you will see in this lecture which gives a ‘behind the scenes’ look at how such decisions are made and will describe some extraordinary successes but also crashing disappointments. Stories will include a hugely publicised oil sketch seen on Breakfast TV, reputedly worth £250,000, and the chance discovery of a fabulous, almost abstract, rare oil study of the 1830s that had formerly belonged to an American G.I.

Sarah Cove ACR is an accredited paintings conservator, technical art historian and lecturer based in Falmouth, Cornwall, with several decades of experience working on paintings for the heritage and private sectors. She is a specialist in British portraits, 19th-20th century British landscapes and oil sketches on paper and board. She founded the Constable Research Project and is the leading authority on Constable’s materials and techniques. Her presentations are lively, enthusiastic and passionate about her work and research.