John Constable

Born in 1776, the son of a grain merchant in the rural Northeast of London, John Constable painted what he knew best, the English landscape. Constable was associated with the 19th century Naturalist movement which expressed the artists interest in the physical appearance of the world. The main elements of the movement include painting in the open air, copying objects in minute detail, using expressive brushstrokes. There was also a feeling that art should tell the truth about modern life and the concern with how to convey that in painting. Constable painted landscapes inspired by a growing interest in the new science of meterology and made this an important element in his work, creating many sketches of clouds and weather. He spent twenty-three years in Suffolk surrounded by rolling hills lighted by everchanging skies. Constable achieved greater success in France than in his native England. Two well known paintings, "The Hay Wain" and "View of the Stour" were exhibited in the Salon in 1824. "The Hay Wain" won the gold metal and the attention of the French Romantic artists, particularly Theodore Gericault. Both paintings were eventually sold to a prominent French art dealer. John Constable married Maria Bicknell in 1816 after a long and frustrating seven-year courtship. Her parents did not approve of the relationship due to the artist's financial state. He thought he would have to rely on portraiture to make a living even though he disliked it and wasn't very good at it. There exists, however, a beautiful portrait of his bride, painted three months before their wedding, which shows how well he could succeed with a subject he loved. Constable was made a full member of the Royal Academy in 1829. At the end of his life Constable began to lecture to raise public opinion regarding landscape painting. His concern was for the melding of art and science. His last lecture ended with the declaration that "painting should be persued as an inquiry into the laws of nature." John Constable died on March 30, 1837. His landscape paintings, sketches and watercolors are in the collections of museums throughout the world.

John Constable Images:
Malvern Hall
Mill At Dedham
Salisbury Cathedral
The Thames and Waterloo Bridge
View on the Stour Near Dedham