Charlotte and I went this past week to an exhibition on John Constable, one the most well known British painters in the nineteenth century. Born in Suffolk, England in June of 1776, Constable was a Romantic painter known for his landscape paintings, depicting the area where he grew up in the English countryside. This area came to be known as “Constable Country” because it was seen in so many of his paintings. He was particularly popular in France, where he sold more paintings there than he did in England. He is similar and often compared to J.M.W Turner, one of Britain’s famous artists who was working around the same time. Both were inspired by Claude Lorrain and Thomas Gainsborough.
One of my favorites paintings done by Constable, is “Wivenhoe Park” (1816). This painting is a beautiful and detailed representation of his home. This painting automatically struck me as simple and peaceful. Unlike most of the modern works we have been looking at lately, like the works of the YBA’s, I found Constable’s work refreshing. It isn’t trying to shock you, or portray a suppressed aspect of society, but simply display a beautiful scene. Like a lot of his work, this piece is classic and traditional, not striking many controversial opinions. By using oil on canvas, the time and skill it took to achieve this painting is evident. As we saw in the exhibition, Constable went out and studied nature while painting a rough outline of the scene in which he wanted to create. He then took this sketch back to the studio where he created the finished piece. Studying and painting nature was something Constable did often, as he created paintings like “The Study of Poppies” which is a simple painting of a poppy.
Depth is created in “Wivenhoe Park” through the flow of the river and hills lining the water. There is dark shading on the right, possibly making the perspective of the viewer sitting underneath a tree looking out at this scene. The colors are mostly shades of green and grey, due to the natural setting of a river and field of cows. There is also a pink house in the background and a detailed wooden fence in the foreground. This was painted during the time of the Industrial Revolution, where natural scenes like this we’re beginning to be seen less and less. Constable could have painted this serene picture with the nostalgia of his childhood in the countryside, while wishing to sustain a more natural world.
-Kasey & Charlotte
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