Constable's atmospheric sketch of a rainstorm over Brighton beach was painted between 1824 and 1828 while the artist's wife and family were living on the Sussex coast. In many of his Brighton sketches Constable included figures and boats as points of reference but here he dispensed with human interest to capture the powerful but fleeting image of a storm with a shaft of sunlight suddenly breaking through the glowering black clouds. The artist's fascination with skies led him to make numerous similar studies directly from nature, often showing the same location transformed by different light and weather conditions. In Brighton he practised making rapid sketches of the sea and sky while sitting on the beach with a paint box balanced on his knees, a sheet of paper pinned to the lid. Major works, like A Boat Passing a Lock (1826), demonstrate how much this practice honed Constable's skill in depicting transitory effects. While the artist never intended his sky studies to be exhibited as finished paintings they nevertheless possess great immediacy and visual appeal.

Rainstorm over the Sea currently features in Equivalents at firstsite, Colchester, among a series of works chosen by artist Steven Claydon to accompany his exhibition Culpable Earth. Five of Constable's studies of stormy skies and sunsets feature alongside Equivalent VIII by the American minimalist sculptor Carl Andre (b. 1935). This iconic modern sculpture, consisting of different but 'equivalent' arrangements of bricks, references a set of cloud studies by the early 20th century photographer Alfred Stieglitz known as Equivalents. In juxtaposing the sculpture with Constable's paintings Claydon highlights the original significance of Andre's title.

Equivalents is at firsite, Colchester, Essex, from 4 February - 7 May 2012.