John Constable

#1. Rejected by His Homeland. Even though Constable is now one of the most well-known painters in Britain, throughout his lifetime his own England did not completely appreciate him. His powerful and expressive technique was recognized by artists such as Eugène Delacroix in France, where his work achieved more popularity and admiration.

#2. An Innovator of Skies. Constable was famous for his dramatic skies. He believed that clouds were essential to the emotional impact of a landscape and made hundreds of detailed cloud studies, becoming known as a master of atmospheric effects.

#3. Six-Foot Canvases. Constable began creating gigantic, six-foot canvases, including classics such as The Hay Wain and The White Horse, in order to elevate landscape painting to the level of history painting. This established a new benchmark for landscape painting.

#4. Deep Connection to Nature. Constable painted mostly the landscapes of his native Suffolk and the Stour Valley, which he depicted with tremendous emotional and spiritual depth and are now known as "Constable Country." He traveled outside of England relatively little.

#5. Inspiration for Impressionism. Though Constable's style was rooted in Romanticism, his loose, expressive brushstrokes and emphasis on capturing light and weather directly influenced the French Impressionists, particularly artists like Claude Monet.

The Hay Wain (1821) - not for sale, considered priceless; displayed in the National Gallery, London.

Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831) - sold for $5.2 million in 2013; current estimates exceed $10–15 million.

Dedham Vale (1828) - sold for $4.7 million in 2012; current estimates exceed $8–12 million.

Flatford Mill (1816) - not for sale, considered priceless; displayed in the Tate Britain, London.

Wivenhoe Park (1816) - sold for $4.1 million in 2010; current estimates exceed $7–10 million.

"Constable’s art captures the serene beauty of the English countryside with heartfelt devotion." Art historian, Emily Carter

"Through Constable’s brush, nature becomes a reflection of the artist’s soul." Critic, Sarah Whitmore

"Every Constable painting feels like a hymn to the harmony of nature and humanity." Scholar, Laura Bennett

"Constable’s genius lies in his ability to render landscapes with both intimacy and grandeur." Curator, James Turner

"In Constable’s works, the viewer finds a timeless connection to the beauty of rural life." Critic, Richard Holmes

Victoria and Albert Museum, London — the largest Constable collection, from the Isabel Constable bequest.

Tate Britain, London — major oils including Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Grounds.

National Gallery, London — The Hay Wain (1821), The Cornfield.

Royal Academy of Arts, London — The Leaping Horse.

The Frick Collection, New York — The White Horse.

Huntington Library, San Marino, California — View on the Stour near Dedham.

Fresh English landscape painted with a vivid sense of daylight and weather. Cloudy skies with scudding cumulus and small patches of blue. Willows, meadows, millponds and church towers of Suffolk and Hampstead. Flickering highlights of bright white (“Constable snow,” as contemporaries called it) applied in small strokes across grass and water. A radical commitment to painting his own native countryside rather than classical or Italianate scenes.

East Anglian Beginnings (1800–1815): Scenes of his native Stour Valley in Suffolk.

Six-Footers (1819–1825): Large exhibition canvases: The White Horse, The Hay Wain, The Leaping Horse.

Paris Sensation (1824): Delacroix saw The Hay Wain in Paris and reportedly repainted parts of his own Massacre at Chios as a result.

Late Mood (1830s): Darker, more emotionally intense landscapes following his wife’s death.

“I should paint my own places best.”

“Painting is with me but another word for feeling.”

Constable’s Suffolk light is made of thousands of tiny flickering marks — strokes of pale lead white, ochre and pink laid into wet green and brown passages to suggest sunlight on leaves and water. The effect only works if each stroke is placed with awareness of the colour beneath. His skies are painted very differently from the ground: rapid, fluid, atmospheric, with cloud shapes observed from hundreds of actual sky studies. Reproducing Constable requires both the patience for foreground detail and the confident looseness of his famous skies — a rare combination.