John Constable

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Lore & Background

John Constable was born in East Bergholt, a village on the River Stour in Suffolk, to Golding and Ann Constable. His father was a wealthy corn merchant, owner of Flatford Mill in East Bergholt and, later, Dedham Mill in bordering Essex. Golding Constable owned a small ship, The Telegraph, which he moored at Mistley on the Stour estuary, and used to transport corn to London. Although Constable was his parents' second son, his older brother was intellectually disabled and John was expected to succeed his father in the business. After a brief period at a boarding school in Lavenham, he was enrolled in a day school in Dedham, Essex. Constable worked in the corn business after leaving school, but his younger brother Abram eventually took over the running of the mills. In his youth, Constable embarked on amateur sketching trips in the surrounding Suffolk and Essex countryside, which was to become the subject of a large proportion of his art. These scenes, in his own words, 'made me a painter, and I am grateful'; 'the sound of water escaping from mill dams etc., willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts, and brickwork, I love such things.' He was introduced to George Beaumont, a collector, who showed him his prized Hagar and the Angel by Claude Lorrain, which inspired Constable. Later, while visiting relatives in Middlesex, he was introduced to the professional artist John Thomas Smith, who advised him on painting but also urged him to remain in his father's business rather than take up art professionally. In 1799, Constable persuaded his father to let him pursue a career in art, and Golding granted him a small allowance. Entering the Royal Academy Schools as a probationer, he attended life classes and anatomical dissections, and studied and copied old masters. Among works that particularly inspired him during this period were paintings by Thomas Gainsborough, Claude Lorrain, Peter Paul Rubens, Annibale Carracci and Jacob van Ruisdael. In 1802 he refused the position of drawing master at Great Marlow Military College (now Sandhurst), a move which Benjamin West (then master of the RA) counselled would mean the end of his career. In that year, Constable wrote a letter to John Dunthorne in which he spelled out his determination to become a professional landscape painter: 'For the last two years I have been running after pictures, and seeking the truth at second hand... I have not endeavoured to represent nature with the same elevation of mind with which I set out, but have rather tried to make my performances look like the work of other men... There is room enough for a natural painter. The great vice of the present day is bravura, an attempt to do something beyond the truth.'

Reader's Guide

Constable's significance lies in his revolutionary approach to landscape painting, focusing on ordinary daily scenes of his native Suffolk and Essex, which he painted with a freshness of light, colour and touch. His work was embraced in France, where he sold more than in his native England and inspired the Barbizon school. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts at the age of 52. Despite his later fame, he was never financially successful during his lifetime. His most famous paintings include Wivenhoe Park (1816), Dedham Vale (1828) and The Hay Wain (1821). His legacy endures as a key figure in the Romantic tradition, and the area he painted is now known as 'Constable Country'. To make ends meet, Constable took up portraiture, which he found dull, though he executed many fine portraits. He also painted occasional religious pictures but, according to John Walker, 'Constable's incapacity as a religious painter cannot be overstated.' Another source of income was country house painting. In 1816, he was commissioned by Major-General Francis Slater Rebow to paint his country home, Wivenhoe Park, Essex. The Major-General also commissioned a smaller painting of the fishing lodge in the grounds of Alresford Hall, which is now in the National Gallery of Victoria. Constable used the money from these commissions towards his wedding with Maria Bicknell. In 1817 Constable started work on his most ambitious project to date: Flatford Mill (Scene on a Navigable River). It was the largest painting of a rural scene that he had done to date and the largest he would ever complete largely outdoors. Although Flatford Mill failed to find a buyer when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1817, its fine and intricate execution drew much praise, encouraging Constable to move on to even larger canvases. It was not until 1819 that Constable sold his first important canvas, The White Horse, described by Charles Robert Leslie as on many accounts the most important picture Constable ever painted. The painting sold for the substantial price of 100 guineas to his friend John Fisher, finally providing Constable with a level of financial freedom he had never before known. The White Horse marked an important turning point; its success saw him elected an associate of the Royal Academy and it led to a series of six monumental landscapes depicting narratives on the River Stour now known as the 'six-footers', in reference to their size. The series also includes Stratford Mill, 1820; The Hay Wain, 1821; View on the Stour near Dedham, 1822; and others.

Did You Know?

• Constable's father owned a small ship called The Telegraph, used to transport corn to London.
• Constable refused the position of drawing master at Great Marlow Military College in 1802, a move Benjamin West said would end his career.
• His first important canvas, The White Horse, sold for 100 guineas to his friend John Fisher in 1819.
• Constable was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts at the age of 52.
• He sold more paintings in France than in his native England and inspired the Barbizon school.