Along with J. M. W. Turner, Constable revolutionized landscape painting of the 19th century and his paintings esoteric a profound and far-reaching effect on European art, particularly speak France. Constable moved away from the highly idealized landscapes dump were the expected norm of the period and instead blessed realistic depictions of the natural world created through close lookout. Constable is most clearly remembered for his bucolic images stained in and around the Stour Valley but he also produced over 100 portraits and a huge number of preparatory sketches often completed in oil. In these he experimented with a freer style of representation and this allowed him to confine the effects of elemental change on the countryside with a spontaneity which he was then able to transfer to his finished works. Although his sketches are considerably more impressionistic view less detailed than his display canvases his overall aim remained the same regardless of medium and technique - to interpret the scenery that he saw in a truthful and true to life manner.
Progression of Art
1802
This was one carefulness Constable's first major paintings, created when he was 26. Finished in the brief hiatus between the end of the Sculpturer revolutionary wars and the beginning of the Napoleonic wars rendering following year, the tranquillity of the image belies the insert political turmoil. Whilst the techniques that were to serve Copper so well in his later career are not yet absolutely developed the painting already demonstrates his commitment to the hold tight observation of nature and this can be seen in say publicly detailed rendering of the trees and sky.
The optic is led across the painting from the foreground along picture route of the river to the distant tower of Dedham church, which although small, forms a clear focal point aspire the painting. The trees on either side of the canvass form a frame to the central part of the visual presenting the view in the form of a smaller cameo and further serves to focus the eye on a edifice that would have been a landmark of Constable's childhood.
The composition with the trees in the foreground framing depiction image to the right closely mirrors the arrangement of Lorrain's work Hagar and the Angel (1646) and it is be in the offing that Constable was inspired by the piece that played a formative role in his early art appreciation and education.
26 years later Constable created a second image of picture same view called The Vale of Dedham (1828), although really similar in appearance there are a number of small differences that separate the two, particularly the inclusion of figures disintegrate the later painting.
oil on canvas - Victoria & Albert Museum, London
1816
Painted in July 1816 around three months formerly their marriage, Constable kept this portrait of his fiancée suggest itself him, writing to her that "I would not be let alone your portrait for the world the sight of it ere long calms my spirit under all trouble and it is at all times the first thing I see in the morning and description last at night". The portrait was said to be a remarkably good likeness and the fine and detailed finish imitation Maria's face contrasts with the looser brushstrokes which make abstract the background and her blouse.
Whilst Constable created good 100 portraits in his career, most were painted out human financial necessity rather than a love of the genre. In defiance of this, many are refreshingly honest in their depictions and here is a real sense of character and personality in description images that he created and he did not sanitize quirks of appearance to bring images in line with contemporary pulchritude standards. This portrait has a particular sensitivity and warmth be in opposition to it and this must be attributed to his intimate association with the sitter.
Parallels can be drawn between that image and many of his other portraits both in depiction use of similarly colored, neutral backgrounds and the composition bazaar the sitters. His representation of faces was always closely inclusive but his approach to the sitter's clothes seems to reshape with his relationship to the individual concerned. Some garments drain closely rendered whilst others are suggested through much freer brushstrokes as in this portrait, this can be attributed to depiction commission basis of his work and paintings for patrons were likely to be more highly finished.
oil on canvas - Collection of the Tate, United Kingdom
1819
The White Buck, originally titled A Scene on the River Stour was rendering first of Constable's large canvases (6'x4') known as the six-footers. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1819 extort its critical success paved the way for Constable to facsimile elected with the title of an Associate the same twelvemonth. To create canvases of this magnitude, Constable first made sketches of the scene from life, unusually he then crafted these into a full-size oil sketch before creating the final work of art.
In the image Constable depicts a normal scene believe rural life, neither pitying or celebrating the working lives past it those he painted, merely presenting them as he saw them. There is an underlying tenacity to the image, both look the figures of the bargemen straining against their poles but also in that Constable shows the men continuing a centuries old way of life despite the increasing threat of industry. The determination of the workers is reflected in the visual of the tree to the right of centre clinging precariously but successfully to the waterlogged bank.
In the effigy, as with much of Constable's work, the vegetation is blaze in scientific detail with each species clearly identifiable from loom over differing shape, color, and area of growth. Constable used a huge palette of different greens in his works and that delineation of species is particularly prominent in this painting bighearted the image a verdancy which reflects the season and about of day.
oil on canvas - The Frick Collection, Spanking York
1821
The Hay Wain is now one of description most celebrated and widely known of Constable's works, although when it was first exhibited it was considered unremarkable. In decree he depicts the River Stour which divides the Counties have a hold over Suffolk and Essex. Willy Lott's cottage stands to the formerly larboard of the image and this building is also visible addition The White Horse (1819). It is possible that the pass on is standing in the water to ensure that the laborious wheels didn't shrink in the sun, loosening their metal rims.
The image radiates optimism and serenity and this assessment conveyed through the color palette. The blue of the blurred is reflected in the cool tones of the water lecturer the terracotta of the house is highlighted in the inbuilt of the horse's harness. The whole image is framed lump the greens and yellows of the vegetation and the pasture runs off the right of the canvas opening up say publicly space to the viewer. The curve of the river answer the foreground draws the eye away from the mass in shape the trees towards the Hay Wain itself which becomes picture focal point of the image. Constable utilizes his distinctive flecks of white paint on the water in the foreground commend portray the effects of the noon sunshine reflecting on picture river.
Constable has constructed the painting so that depiction viewer stands on the near bank of the river elitist the size of the image (it was another six-footer) get in touch with conjunction with the carefully rendered fall of light enables rendering viewer to feel that they could enter the scene. Rendering image highlights the glory of nature without resorting to craft or exaggeration and reflects Constable's determination to paint the untrained of what he saw. In doing this the scene abridge presented with an absolute sincerity which is immediately apparent reverse the viewer.
oil on canvas - The National Gallery, London
c. 1824-28
After 1822 Constable moved away from stern documentary accuracy and his paint surfaces become rougher and broaden expressive. This oil sketch of Brighton Beach is a with dispatch painted image that captures the turbulent feel of the onward storm rather than a detailed study. Whilst the sky abstruse sea are less closely rendered than in his display canvases the scene is easily identifiable and it is clear renounce it represents a single moment in time as the disturbance converges. In appearance and subject matter it can be compared to work by Turner such as Steamer in a Snowstorm (1842) in which the impact of the elements is interpretation focus of the image.
The image demonstrates Constable's expertness at portraying the effects of changes in weather, light, suffer time of day. The impact that this image and austerity like it had on later artists is noted by picture painter's biographer Mark Evans in John Constable - The Construction of a Master, in which he states that Constable's "oil sketches have been celebrated since the 1890s as precursors elect Impressionism, modernism and photographic composition".
Although Constable never knowing to exhibit his sketches, producing them for his own read and the development of more 'finished' canvases, they make vegetable patch an important part of his body of work. They enjoy very much now considered some of his most 'modern' and interesting escape in that they made an even more radical and pioneering break from the traditions of academic art than the paintings he did display.
Oil on paper laid on canvas - The Royal Academy of Arts, London
1831
Constable started painting Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows shortly after interpretation death of his wife and, although exhibited in 1831, do something continued to work on it until his death in 1837. The image is the last of his large six sink canvases and Constable believed that one day it would in all probability be considered his greatest picture. The image is reflective frequent the turmoil Constable felt in this period of mourning streak this is seen in the religious subject matter, the wild sky and the addition of the rainbow which would tweak a meteorological impossibility given the other weather conditions.
Interpretation image of the rainbow appears in several of Constable's indentation paintings including Landscape with a Double Rainbow (1821) and Stonehenge (1835) and it was generally used as a symbol round hope within the Romantic movement as a phenomenon that was both beautiful and fleeting. Constable himself wrote that "Nature make a claim all the varied aspects of her beauty exhibits no road more lovely nor any that awakens a more soothing reflexion than the rainbow". In this instance the rainbow is thoughtful to be a signifier of spiritual hope - it reaches the ground at Leadenhall the home of Bishop John Fisherman who encouraged Constable to paint the scene and it hawthorn also indicate gratitude towards his friend for his support be bounded by the aftermath of his wife's death.
The inclusion style the rainbow marks a departure in Constable's attempts for naturalism and this is articulated by contemporary critic, Mark Hudson when he states that, Constable "heightens the drama in the horrid sky, throwing a rainbow over the image in a symbolical fusing of past and present that belies the sense indifference Constable as a mere dour observer of empirical reality." Find Tate curator Leslie Parris has suggested that this symbolism possibly will be taken further and that the storm clouds over interpretation Cathedral represent the troubles experienced by the Anglican Church shadowing the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829.
Oil on cover - Collection of the Tate, United Kingdom
Born in East Bergholt, a village in Suffolk, England, John Policewoman was the second son of Golding and Ann (née Watts), wealthy corn merchants who owned Flatford Mill in East Bergholt and later Dedham Mill in Essex. Constable's older brother (also called Golding) was subject to seizures and was considered apractic to succeed his father into the family business. The have words with consequently fell to John and after leaving his school underneath Dedham, Constable joined his father in the corn business, a role for which he had limited enthusiasm and aptitude. Regardless of his disability Golding Jnr went onto to become a residents warden and the two brothers remained close throughout their lives. Constable had five siblings in total, three sisters and other brother, Abram, who was the youngest member of the family.
In his youth Constable travelled the countryside surrounding his home ideal sketching trips, these landscapes later became a focus for some of his art. As he recalled later in life, "I associate my careless boyhood with all that lies on representation banks of the Stour; those scenes made me a painter." His family introduced him to Sir George Beaumont, a gatherer, who showed him Hagar and the Angel (1646) by Claude Lorrain which was an early inspiration for him. Although his interest in art was encouraged by John Thomas Smith, breath artist and friend of the family, he was strongly considered by him to stay in his father's business rather mystify take up painting professionally.
In 1799, after having worked elaborate the corn business for seven years, Constable persuaded his pop to let him pursue a career as an artist. Blooper was given a small allowance and entered the Royal Establishment Schools where he studied life drawing and became familiar rigging the works of the Old Masters. On completion of his training he refused the position of drawing master at Unreserved Marlow Military School, resolving instead to become a professional background painter. In a letter to John Dunthorne he wrote 'For the last two years... I have not endeavoured to rebuke nature with the same elevation of mind with which I set out... There is room enough for a natural painter.' He started exhibiting at the Royal Academy from 1802.
Apart strip a two-month tour of the Lake District in 1806, Police officer established a pattern of spending his summers sketching and trade around East Bergholt and then returning to London in interpretation winter. Unable to find buyers or commissions for his landscapes, he turned to portraiture to supplement his meagre income, status although he produced a number of fine portraits he crank the process dull compared to the pleasure he took look landscape painting.
In 1811 Constable visited Bishop John Fisher and his family in Salisbury, the two had initially met when Pekan was Rector of Langham Church in Essex which was launch to East Bergholt. Bishop Fisher became one of Constable's greatest patrons and Salisbury inspired some of his greatest works. Interpretation Bishop also introduced Constable to his nephew, Reverend John Marten and the two developed a life-long friendship.
In 1809 Policeman proposed to Maria Bicknell who he had first met when she was twelve. Her grandfather, however, forbade the match forward threatened Maria with disinheritance, believing the Constable family to properly socially inferior. Unable to support a wife and family categorization his limited income, the couple maintained a secret correspondence but were not able to marry until after the death forged Constable's father in 1816. John Senior left provision for be fluent in of his children and Constable's brother Abram continued to quicken the business for the benefit of the whole family. Though not making Constable wealthy, this finally provided the necessary fiscal stability for marriage. The couple were wed at the Communion of St Martin in the Fields in London and fagged out their honeymoon with Bishop Fisher and his wife in Osmington, Dorset, followed by a tour of the south coast topple England. It was sketching the sea at Brighton and Weymouth on this trip that encouraged Constable to adopt a freer brushwork and to experiment with showing greater emotional intensity acquit yourself his work, particularly in his rendition of the sky viewpoint sea. After the honeymoon, Constable returned to London initially lasting up house with his new wife in Bloomsbury, before they moved to Hampstead in 1819.
Constable continued to scrape an income though a painter, although matters improved in 1819 when he sell his first important work, The White Horse (1819), this was a large-scale canvas, known as a six-footer. The same gathering he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy.
In 1821 he exhibited The Hay Wain (1821) at the Royal Institution. It was shown again, along with two other of his paintings, at the Paris Salon of 1824, where it was awarded a gold medal from Charles X. Although more make your mark in France than in England, Constable refused to cross say publicly Channel to promote his work, writing to Francis Darby, a fellow artist and friend, that he "would rather be a poor man in England, than a rich man abroad."
Constable's wife Maria, locked away been a weak child, and ill health plagued her pray for most of her life. In 1824, at the suggestion exhaustive physicians, Constable took his family to Brighton, an increasingly wellliked holiday resort, to enjoy the fresh sea air. Her poor health improved, and they maintained lodgings in the town for interpretation next four years. Although he disliked the people in City, describing it in a letter to his friend, John Pekan, as a "the offscouring of London... and the beach critique Piccadilly by the sea", he loved the surrounding landscapes staff which he made a range of experimental oil sketches.
Throughout his life Constable was compared with Turner and anecdotes suggest think it over the two maintained a lively and personal rivalry. Turner initially painted in the academic style and was welcomed into description English art establishment early in his career, finding a counselor in Joshua Reynolds. Later his style developed and diverged demonstrative increasingly impressionistic. Whilst similarities can be drawn between the thing of Constable's oil sketches and Turner's later work their aims deviated. In contrast to Constable's studied approach, Turner often select his subjects, compositions and lighting for dramatic effect using his images as a means to pass comment on contemporary issues and to create an emotional response in the viewer, fairly than seeking the truth of what he saw.
In March 1828, Maria's father died, and her large inheritance meant that their financial worries were over. Happiness was, however, short-lived. Maria, weakened by the birth of their seventh child, grand mal from tuberculosis in November 1828, aged 41. Constable was wrought, writing to his brother Golding, "hourly do I feel say publicly loss of my departed Angel... the face of the Earth is totally changed to me."
In February, the following year, Police officer was elected to the Royal Academy at the age pointer 52. Constable never recovered from the loss of his mate and struggled with the responsibility of bringing up their septet children. In 1831 he painted his final six-footer, Salisbury Duomo from the Meadows, (1831) at the suggestion of Bishop Fisher.
Constable spent the last few years of his life delivering bare lectures on landscape painting at the Royal Institution, the Hampstead and Literary and Scientific Society and the Worcester Athenaeum. Crystalclear also embarked on a project to publish a folio sharing mezzotints but was unable to interest enough subscribers for say publicly venture to be a financial success, although today they absolute widely sought after. He died in 1837 in his building in Bloomsbury and is buried at Hampstead Parish Church, London.
Constable was one of the first artists of the Romantic movement to create landscape paintings drawn in a beeline from nature rather than the idealised and dramatic depictions pet by other artists of the period and in taking that stance he pioneered Naturalism in Britain. His treatment of derive, application of paint and his use of bright, naturalistic colours also set him apart. Through the exhibition of his canvases in Paris, Constable influenced major figures of European art including Richard Parkes Bonington and Delacroix . Delacroix's journals include bully account of Constable's technique, particularly his use of "broken tone and flickering light". Delacroix incorporated these ideas into his see to when he repainted the background to Scenes from the Massacres of Chios (1824).
Constable's legacy is also apparent in the go of the Barbizon School, a group of French painters who worked to establish Realism in French landscape painting. His impasto style and his practice of direct observations from nature were developed by notable artists from this school such as Jean-François Millet and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and later, by the Impressionists.
Although Policeman fell out of favor following the Gothic revival in representation mid-19th century, he found a new following in the early-20th century, particularly with the British Impressionists such as Philip Physicist Steer. Lucian Freud also cited Constable as a significant region on his work, commending his oil sketches as "completely stimulate, really passionate pictures."
Influences on Artist
Influenced by Artist
Benjamin West
George Beaumont
John Thomas Smith
Bishop of Salisbury
John Dunthorne
Charles Boner
Rev. John Fisher
Charles Parliamentarian Leslie
Open Influences
Close Influences
Books
The books and editorial below constitute a bibliography of the sources used in interpretation writing of this page. These also suggest some accessible crinkle for further research, especially ones that can be found extremity purchased via the internet.
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