John Constable was the son of a Suffolk mill owner and painted the countryside of the Stour valley around his home for most of his life. He worked from nature, making oil sketches of clouds and weather that were unusually fresh for their time, and worked them up into large six-foot canvases for the Royal Academy. The Hay Wain, in the National Gallery, won a gold medal at the Paris Salon of 1824 and influenced the French Romantics and the Barbizon painters. The Victoria and Albert Museum and Tate hold large collections of his sketches and paintings.
© Ramsay Richard ReinaglePublic Domain Mark John Constable
Romantic landscape painter; The Hay Wain
- Born
- 11 June 1776, East Bergholt, Suffolk
- Died
- 31 March 1837, London
Where to see their work
-
The Influence of John Constable, Munnings Art Museum, Colchester
Until 25 October
-
Trees: A Love Letter 1834-2026, Rowe & Williams, Yoxford
Until 8 November
-
Constable to Contemporary, Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich
Opens Saturday 24 October
Always on show
- National Gallery, London
The Hay Wain and The Cornfield, Room 40
- Tate Britain, London
Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, Flatford Mill and other paintings, Room 23
- V&A South Kensington, London
Oil sketches and paintings, with Hampstead Heath and flower studies, Room 87
- Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Hampstead Heath, Gallery 5
- Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich
Suffolk paintings, including Golding Constable's gardens, Wolsey Art Gallery
- Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh
On the Stour and Laura Moubray
Further reading: Wikipedia