john constable 1776
Name: John Constable
Born: 11 June 1776
Died: 31 March 1837
Home Town: East Bergholt, Suffolk (60 yrs)
Style: Romanticism
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Exhibited: National Gallery, London & visited his home town and walked his walk to school
Why I like him: I loved The Hay Wain so much, I went to the National Gallery to be able to see it and take in the detail of the painting.
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History:
•Largely self-taught, progressed slowly
•After school, he worked in his fathers corn business
•1800 was a student at the Royal Academy schools where he studied life studies and anatomical dissections. He studied and copied the Old Masters (Donatello, DaVinci, Rembrandt, Raphael)
•Inspired by Gainsborough, Rubens and Carracci
•Read widely poetry and sermons
•Influenced by Dutch artists such as Rubens.
•He influenced the Barbizon (Southern Paris and included such artists as Rousseau) and French Romantic movements
•Popular now, but was never financially successful
•Landscape paintings around Dedham Vale area now known as ‘Constable Country’. Painting real life.
•Embraced in France and sold more there than in England
•The Six Footers – Stratford Mill, The Hay Wain, View on the Stour near Dedham, The Lock, The Leaping Horse, Hadleigh Castle, Salisbury Cathedral
•“Painting is but another word for feeling”
•Later in life his wife got tuberculosis and Constable spent time commuting between London and Brighton where there was a change to coastal scenes.
the hay wain 1821
This painting captured my imagination when it was featured on a programme by Andrew Marr. I was intrigued by every aspect of the picture and felt compelled to visit it in the National Gallery. I then found out more about Constable when I visited Dedham Vale and walked where Constable would have walked and painted. The detail in every part of the painting is amazing.
the cornfield 1826
It is thought that this would have been Constable's view on his way to school. There are many fields in the area, so it is hard to find a definitive field it would have been, but fun looking!
Flatford mill 1817
You can see Flatford Mill in the background and Willy Lott's cottage that features in the Hay Wain is just beyond there. I like the way Constable has used red on the horse to draw our attention to him before our eyes wander further into the painting.
