John Constable (1776-1837)

His life:

  • He was born on 11 June 1776 in the village of East Bergholt, Suffolk.

  • In 1799 he went to London and attended the Royal Academy School.

  • In 1802 he took part for the first time in the Royal Academy exhibition.

  • In 1809 Constable met Maria Bicknell and fell in love with her but they were able to marry after the death of Maria's parents.

  • In 1824 his first international success came to him in France, in the Paris Salon. The Hay Wain

  • In 1824 he moved to Brighton.

  • In 1828 his wife died.

  • In 1828 he was elected to the Academy.

  • On 31 March 1837 he died at the age of 61.

His works:

  • He was a romantic but strongly naturalistic landscape painter.

  • He was influenced by the Dutch 17th century landscape painters.

  • In his style Impressionism appears. (Impressionism was a style at the end of the 19th century. The essence of it is that an artist depicts his first impressions of the things.)

  • He produced numerous studies of variations of air and light.

  • He wanted to describe the beauty of the nature, he liked painting the places which were the most familiar to him.

  • He turned away from the pictorial conventions of the 18th century landscape painters.

The Hay Wain (1821)

  • Oil on canvas.

  • This painting received a gold medal in Paris.

  • It describes a mid-summer day in the countryside.

  • It is very realistic and lifelike.

  • Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds (1823)

  • Oil on canvas

  • He visited Salisbury in 1811 and the cathedral made a great impression on him.

  • He made a series of paintings of the cathedral.

  • It has violent contrast between the shadows over the foreground and sharp light envelopes the cathedral.

  • Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Cornfield (1826)

  • Oil on canvas

  • The countryside with its lovely valleys and peaceful farm-houses were the inspiration of his art.

  • The figure of the little shepherd who is drinking harks back to the genre painting of 18th century.

  • The receding background is made transparent by the light and air.

  • London National Gallery

Dedham Vale (1828)

  • Oil on canvas

  • He was interested in the view from the hills bordering the Stour Valley.

  • In this painting the magnificent sky is the real protagonist because the sky is the source of light in nature and govern everything.

  • National Gallery of Scotland

The Cenotaph (1836)

  • It is one of Constable's latest works.

  • This painting is reflected the dark tones of autumn, the desolation of the advanced season, the memorial column.

  • It is said that the stag was added later in order to bring a touch of life to the composition.

  • London National Gallery

Words

cenotaph: in memory of people buried elsewhere

sketch: a draft, a drawing made very quickly and not including much detail.