View source for John Constable

{{Short description|English painter (1776–1837)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox artist
| name             = John Constable
| image            = John Constable by Daniel Gardner, 1796.JPG
| imagesize        = 220
| alt              = 
| caption          = John Constable by [[Daniel Gardner]], 1796
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=yes|1776|06|11}}
| birth_place      = [[East Bergholt]], Suffolk, England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=yes|1837|03|31|1776|06|11}}
| death_place      = London, England
| nationality      = British
| field            = Landscape painting
| training         = 
| movement         = [[Romanticism]]
| works            = ''[[The Hay Wain]]'' <br /> ''[[The Vale of Dedham (painting)|Dedham Vale]]''
| patrons          = 
| influenced by    = 
| awards           = 
| website          = 
| resting_place    = [[St John-at-Hampstead]], London
| spouse           = Maria Elizabeth Bicknell (m. 1816, died 1828)
| children         = 7, including [[Charles Golding Constable]]
}}

'''John Constable''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|RA}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ʌ|n|s|t|ə|b|əl|,_|ˈ|k|ɒ|n|-|}};<ref>"Constable, John," ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''</ref> 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the [[Romanticism|Romantic]] tradition. Born in [[Suffolk]], he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of [[landscape painting]]<ref name="vam.ac.uk">[https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/john-constable-an-introduction V&A: John Constable - an introduction]</ref> with his pictures of [[Dedham Vale National Landscape|Dedham Vale]], the area surrounding his home – now known as "Constable Country" – which he invested with an intensity of affection. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821, "painting is but another word for feeling".<ref name="Parkinson 1998 p= 9">{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 9}}</ref>

Constable's most famous paintings include ''[[Wivenhoe Park (painting)|Wivenhoe Park]]'' (1816), ''[[The Vale of Dedham (painting)|Dedham Vale]]'' (1828) and ''[[The Hay Wain]]'' (1821).<ref>[http://publications.ngv.vic.gov.au/artjournal/the-heroine-of-all-these-scenes-john-constable-and-the-rebow-family-in-1816/41/  ''Constable’s Wivenhoe Park is widely recognized as an important work in the artist’s career. ''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129031425/http://publications.ngv.vic.gov.au/artjournal/the-heroine-of-all-these-scenes-john-constable-and-the-rebow-family-in-1816/41/ |date=29 November 2014 }}</ref> Although his paintings are now among the most popular and valuable in [[Art of the United Kingdom|British art]], he was never financially successful. He was elected to the [[Royal Academy of Arts]] at the age of 52. His work was embraced in France, where he sold more than in his native England and inspired the [[Barbizon school]].

== Early career ==
[[File:ConstableSelfPortrait.png|thumb|upright|left|''John Constable, Self-portrait'' 1806, pencil on paper, [[Tate Gallery]] London. His only indisputable self-portrait, drawn by an arrangement of mirrors.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parris|Fleming-Williams|Shields|1976|pp= 59–60}}</ref>]]
[[File:Constable childhood home plaque.jpg|thumb|Plaque in East Bergholt marking the site of Constable’s childhood home]]
John Constable was born in [[East Bergholt]], a village on the [[River Stour, Suffolk|River Stour]] in Suffolk, to Golding and Ann (Watts) Constable.<ref>John Constable was born in East Bergholt, a village on the River Stour in Suffolk, to Golding Constable, a wealthy corn merchant and Ann (Watts) Constable. Delphi Collected Work of John Constable, 2015, page 14.</ref> His father was a wealthy corn merchant, owner of [[Flatford Mill]] in East Bergholt and, later, Dedham Mill in [[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.<ref>Constable’s father — Golding Constable was a wealthy corn merchant, owner of Flatford Mill in East Bergholt and, later, Dedham Mill in Essex. He owned a small ship, The Telegraph, which he moored at Mistley on the Stour estuary, which he used to transport corn to London. Delphi Collected Works of John Constable, 2015, page 14</ref> He was a cousin of the London tea merchant, [[Abram Newman]]. Although Constable was his parents' second son, his older brother was [[intellectual disability|intellectually disabled]] and John was expected to succeed his father in the business. After a brief period at a boarding school in [[Lavenham]],<ref>[he] was transferred later to an establishment in the pretty, little town of Lavenham, where he suffered much at the hands of a flogging usher. Holmes, Charles John (1901), Constable, The Sign of the Unicorn, VII Cecil Court, St.Martin's Lane, London</ref> he was enrolled in a day school in Dedham, Essex.<ref>After a brief period at a boarding school in Lavenham, he was enrolled in a day school in Dedham. Constable, John. Delphi Collected Works of John Constable (Illustrated) (Masters of Art Book 17) (p. 15). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.</ref> Constable worked in the corn business after leaving school, but his younger brother Abram eventually took over the running of the mills.<ref>Constable worked in the corn business after leaving school, but his younger brother Abram eventually took over the running of the mills. Constable, John. Delphi Collected Works of John Constable (Illustrated) (Masters of Art Book 17) (p. 15). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.</ref>

In his youth, Constable embarked on amateur [[Sketch (drawing)|sketching]] trips in the surrounding Suffolk and Essex countryside, which was to become the subject of a large proportion of his art.<ref>In his youth, Constable embarked on amateur sketching trips in the surrounding Suffolk and Essex countryside, which in later years would inspire the majority of the subject matter of his canvases. Constable, John. Delphi Collected Works of John Constable (Illustrated) (Masters of Art Book 17) (p. 15). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.</ref>  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."<ref>{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 15}}</ref> He was introduced to [[Sir George Beaumont, 7th Baronet|George Beaumont]], a collector, who showed him his prized ''Hagar and the Angel'' by [[Claude Lorrain]], which inspired Constable.<ref>At this time, he was introduced to George Beaumont, an art collector that showed the aspiring artist, amongst his many other treasures, his prized painting Hagar and the Angel by Claude Lorrain, which would have a profound influence on Constable. Delphi Collected Works of John Constable, p.15</ref> Later, while visiting relatives in [[Middlesex]], he was introduced to the professional artist [[John Thomas Smith (1766–1833)|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.

[[File:John Constable - The Vale of Dedham - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[The Vale of Dedham (painting)|The Vale of Dedham]]'' (1828). [[Scottish National Gallery]], Edinburgh]]
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 drawing|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 Isaakszoon van Ruisdael|Jacob van Ruisdael]].<ref>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, as well as studying and copying old masters. Among works that particularly inspired him during this period were the landscapes of Thomas Gainsborough, Claude Lorrain, Peter Paul Rubens, Annibale Carracci and Jacob van Ruisdael. Constable, John. Delphi Collected Works of John Constable (Illustrated) (Masters of Art Book 17) (p. 15). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.</ref>  He also read widely among poetry and sermons, and later proved a notably articulate artist.

In 1802 he refused the position of drawing master at Great Marlow Military College (now [[Royal Military College, Sandhurst|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:

{{blockquote|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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Thornes|1999|p= 96}}</ref>}}

His early style has many qualities associated with his mature work, including a freshness of light, colour and touch, and reveals the compositional influence of the old masters he had studied, notably of Claude Lorrain.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 17}}</ref> Constable's usual subjects, scenes of ordinary daily life, were unfashionable in an age that looked for more romantic visions of wild landscapes and ruins. He made occasional trips farther afield.

By 1803, he was exhibiting paintings at the Royal Academy. In April he spent almost a month aboard the [[East Indiaman]] {{ship||Coutts|1797 EIC ship|2}} as it visited south-east ports while sailing from London to Deal before leaving for China.<ref>In 1803, Constable exhibited at the Academy two "Landscapes" and two "Studies from Nature"; and in April he made a trip from London to Deal, in the Coutts, East Indiaman, with Captain Torin, a friend of his father. Constable, John. Delphi Collected Works of John Constable (Illustrated) (Masters of Art Book 17) (p. 429). Delphi Classics. Kindle Edition.</ref>

In 1806 Constable undertook a two-month tour of the Lake District.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 18}}</ref> He told his friend and biographer, [[Charles Robert Leslie]], that the solitude of the mountains oppressed his spirits, and Leslie wrote:

{{blockquote|His nature was peculiarly social and could not feel satisfied with scenery, however grand in itself, that did not abound in human associations. He required villages, churches, farmhouses and cottages.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 22}}</ref>}}

Constable adopted a routine of spending winter in London and painting at East Bergholt in summer. In 1811 he first visited [[John Fisher (Anglican bishop)|John Fisher]] and his family in [[Salisbury]], a city whose cathedral and surrounding landscape were to inspire some of his greatest paintings.

[[File:John Constable - Wivenhoe Park, Essex - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|''[[Wivenhoe Park (painting)|Wivenhoe Park]]'' (1816). [[National Gallery of Art]], Washington.]]
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."<ref name="Walker1979">{{Harvnb|Walker|1979|}}</ref>
[[File:Constable - The Wheat Field, 1816, 2007.8.27.jpg|thumb|''[[The Wheat Field (Constable)|The Wheat Field]]'', 1816, oil on canvas. [[Clark Art Institute]], gift of the Manton Art Foundation in memory of Sir Edwin and Lady Manton]]
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 (painting)|Wivenhoe Park, Essex]]''.<ref name="Reynolds 1983 86">{{Harvnb|Reynolds|1983|p= 86}}</ref> The Major-General also commissioned a smaller painting of the fishing lodge in the grounds of Alresford Hall,<ref name="Reynolds 1983 86" /> which is now in the [[National Gallery of Victoria]].<ref>[https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/3867/ NGV]</ref> Constable used the money from these commissions towards his wedding with Maria Bicknell.<ref name="Reynolds 1983 86" /> This period of Constable's painting is heavily populated with idyllic country scenes with heavy detail, notably his 1816 work ''[[The Wheat Field (Constable)|The Wheat Field]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Wheat Field |url=https://www.clarkart.edu/artpiece/detail/the-wheat-field |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=www.clarkart.edu}}</ref>

== Marriage ==
[[File:John Constable (1776-1837) - Maria Bicknell, Mrs John Constable - N02655 - National Gallery.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Maria Bicknell, painted by Constable in 1816. [[Tate Britain]].]]
From 1809, his childhood friendship with Maria Elizabeth Bicknell developed into a deep, mutual love. Their marriage in 1816 when Constable was 40 was opposed by Maria's grandfather, Dr. Rhudde, [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of East Bergholt. He considered the Constables his social inferiors and threatened Maria with disinheritance. Maria's father, Charles Bicknell, solicitor to [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] and the Admiralty,<ref>Information from Constable's gravestone</ref> was reluctant to see Maria throw away her inheritance. Maria pointed out to John that a penniless marriage would detract from any chances he had of making a career in painting. Golding and Ann Constable, while approving the match, held out no prospect of supporting the marriage until Constable was financially secure. After they died in quick succession, Constable inherited a fifth share in the family business.
[[File:Constable osmington bay.tif|left|thumb|''Osmington Bay'', 1816, oil on canvas. [[Clark Art Institute]], gift of the Manton Art Foundation in memory of Sir Edwin and Lady Manton.]]
John and Maria's marriage in October 1816 at [[St Martin-in-the-Fields]] (with Fisher officiating) was followed by time at Fisher's vicarage and a honeymoon tour of the south coast. The sea at [[Weymouth, Dorset|Weymouth]] and [[Brighton]] stimulated Constable to develop new techniques of brilliant colour and vivacious brushwork. At the same time, a greater emotional range began to be expressed in his art.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 24}}</ref> While on honeymoon, Constable began to experiment with works exploring nature's grandeur, characterized by dominating skies, such as ''Osmington Bay''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Osmington Bay |url=https://www.clarkart.edu/artpiece/detail/osmington-bay |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=www.clarkart.edu}}</ref>

Three weeks before their marriage, Constable revealed that he had started work on his most ambitious project to date<ref name="Tate: Flatford Mill">[https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/constable-flatford-mill-scene-on-a-navigable-river-n01273 Tate: Flatford Mill]</ref> In a letter to Maria Bicknell from East Bergholt, he wrote:

{{blockquote|’I am now in the midst of a large picture here which I had contemplated for the next exhibition<ref name="Tate: Flatford Mill">[https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/constable-flatford-mill-scene-on-a-navigable-river-n01273 Tate: Flatford Mill]</ref>}}

The picture was ''[[Flatford Mill (Scene on a Navigable River)]]''. It was the largest canvas of a working scene on the River Stour that he had worked on to date and the largest he would ever complete largely outdoors.<ref name="nga.gov">[https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/constable-great-landscapes.html#slide_1 National Gallery of Art: Constable's Great Landscapes]</ref> Constable was determined to paint on a larger scale, his objective not only to attract more attention at the Royal Academy exhibitions but also, it seems, to project his ideas about landscape on a scale more in keeping with the achievements of the classical landscape painters he so admired.<ref>[https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/constable-great-landscapes Tate: Constable: The Great Landscapes]</ref> Although Flatford Mill failed to find a buyer when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1817,<ref name="Tate: Flatford Mill"/> its fine and intricate execution drew much praise, encouraging Constable to move on to the even larger canvases that were to follow.<ref name="nga.gov"/>

== The ‘Six-Footers’ ==
[[File:The White Horse by John Constable - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''[[The White Horse (Constable)|The White Horse]]'' (1819). [[Frick Collection]].]]
Although he managed to scrape an income from painting, it was not until 1819 that Constable sold his first important canvas, ''[[The White Horse (Constable)|The White Horse]]'', described by [[Charles Robert Leslie]] as ''‘on many accounts the most important picture Constable ever painted'''.<ref name="Sotheby’s: The White Horse">[https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/old-master-evening-l19033/lot.23.html Sotheby’s: The White Horse]</ref> The painting (without the frame) sold for the substantial price of 100 [[Guinea (coin)|guineas]] to his friend John Fisher, finally providing Constable with a level of financial freedom he had never before known.<ref>[https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/immortalised-landscape-of-constable-country Sotheby’s: Landscapes of Constable Country]</ref> ''The White Horse'' marked an important turning point in Constable’s career; its success saw him elected an associate of the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]]<ref>[https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/constable-salisbury-cathedral-from-the-meadows-t13896/in-depth-salisbury-cathedral-from-the-meadows/techniques-materials-six-footer-paintings Tate: Constable’s ‘Six-Footers’]</ref> and it led to a series of six monumental landscapes depicting narratives on the River Stour known as the ‘six-footers’ (named for their scale). The extraordinary size of the works helped Constable attract attention in the competitive space of the Academy's exhibitions.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Parris |first1=Leslie |title=Constable |last2=Fleming-Williams |first2=Ian |publisher=Tate |year=1991 |location=London |pages=193–194}}</ref> Viewed as ‘the knottiest and most forceful landscapes produced in 19th-century Europe’,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/arts/design/constables-great-landscapes-the-sixfoot-paintings.html New York Times: Constable’s Great Landscapes]</ref> for many they are the defining works of the artist's career. The series also includes ''[[Stratford Mill (Constable)|Stratford Mill]]'', 1820 ([[National Gallery]], London); ''[[The Hay Wain]]'', 1821 (National Gallery, London); ''[[View on the Stour near Dedham]]'', 1822 ([[Huntington Library and Art Gallery]], [[Los Angeles County]]); ''[[The Lock (Constable)|The Lock]]'', 1824 (''Private Collection''); and ''The Leaping Horse'', 1825 ([[Royal Academy of Arts]], [[London]]).<ref name="Sotheby’s: The White Horse"/>

The following year, his second six-footer ''[[Stratford Mill (Constable)|Stratford Mill]]'' was exhibited.<ref name="Bailey 2007 116">{{Harvnb|Bailey|2007|p= 116}}</ref> [[The Examiner (1808–1886)|The Examiner]] described it as having ''‘a more exact look of nature than any picture we have ever seen by an Englishman’''.<ref name="Bailey 2007 116" /> The painting was a success, acquiring a buyer in the loyal John Fisher,<ref name="Johnson 1991 614">{{Harvnb|Johnson|1991|p= 614}}</ref> who purchased it for  100 guineas, a price he himself thought too low.<ref>[https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/john-constable-stratford-mill National Gallery: Stratford Mill]</ref> Fisher bought the painting for his solicitor and friend, John Pern Tinney.<ref name="Bailey 2007 116" /> Tinney loved the painting so much, he offered Constable another 100 guineas to paint a companion picture, an offer the artist didn’t take up.<ref name="Bailey 2007 116" /> Constable's growing popularity in turn led to more lucrative commissions, such as ''Malvern Hall'' (1821, [[Clark Art Institute]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Malvern Hall |url=https://www.clarkart.edu/artpiece/detail/malvern-hall |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=www.clarkart.edu}}</ref>

[[File:John Constable - The Hay Wain (1821).jpg|thumb|left|''[[The Hay Wain]]'' (1821). [[National Gallery, London]].|314x314px]]
In 1821, his most famous painting ''[[The Hay Wain]]'' was shown at the Royal Academy's exhibition. Although it failed to find a buyer, it was viewed by some important people of the time, including two Frenchmen, the artist [[Théodore Géricault]] and writer [[Charles Nodier]].<ref name="nationalgallery.org.uk">[https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/john-constable-the-hay-wain National Gallery: The Hay Wain - Description]</ref> According to the painter [[Eugène Delacroix]], Géricault returned to France ’quite stunned‘ by Constable’s painting,<ref name="nationalgallery.org.uk"/> while Nodier suggested French artists should also look to nature rather than relying on trips to Rome for inspiration.<ref name="nationalgallery.org.uk"/> It was eventually purchased, along with ''View on the Stour near Dedham'', by the Anglo-French dealer John Arrowsmith, in 1824.<ref name="Johnson 1991 614"/> A small painting ''[[Yarmouth Jetty]]'' was added to the bargain by Constable, with the sale totalling £250.<ref name="Johnson 1991 614"/> Both paintings were exhibited at the [[Salon of 1824|Paris Salon that year]], where they caused a sensation, with the Hay Wain being awarded a gold medal by [[Charles X of France|Charles X]].<ref name="nationalgallery.org.uk"/> The Hay Wain was later acquired by the collector [[Henry Vaughan (art collector)|Henry Vaughan]] who donated it to the [[National Gallery]] in 1886.

Of Constable's colour, Delacroix wrote in his journal: "What he says here about the green of his meadows can be applied to every tone".<ref>{{Harvnb|Kelder|1980|p=27}}</ref> Delacroix repainted the background of his 1824 ''[[The Massacre at Chios|Massacre de Scio]]'' after seeing the Constables at Arrowsmith's Gallery, which he said had done him a great deal of good.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 132}}</ref>

[[File:John Constable A Boat Passing a Lock.jpg|thumb|''[[The Lock (Constable)|The Lock]]'' (1824). Private collection.]]
A number of distractions meant that ''[[The Lock (Constable)|The Lock]]'' wasn't finished in time for the 1823 exhibition, leaving the much smaller ''[[Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds]]'' as the artist's main entry.<ref name="Bailey 2007 116"/> This may have occurred after Fisher forwarded Constable the money for the painting.<ref name="Bailey 2007 116"/> This both helped him out of a financial difficulty and nudged him along to get the painting done.<ref name="Bailey 2007 116"/> ''[[The Lock (Constable)|The Lock]]'' was therefore exhibited the following year to more fanfare and sold for 150 guineas<ref>{{Harvnb|Charles|2015|p= 162}}</ref> on the first day of the exhibition, the only Constable ever to do so.<ref name="Sotheby’s: The Lock">[https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2015/old-master-british-paintings-evening-sale-l15036/lot.44.html?locale=en  ssSotheby’s: The Lock]</ref> ''[[The Lock (Constable)|The Lock]]'' is the only upright landscape of the Stour series and the only six-footer that Constable painted more than one version of. A second version now known as the ‘Foster version’ was painted in 1825 and kept by the artist to send to exhibitions.<ref name="Sotheby’s: The Lock"/> A third, landscape version, known as ''[[A Boat Passing a Lock]]'' (1826) is now in the collection of the Royal Academy of Arts.<ref>[https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/work-of-art/a-boat-passing-a-lock R.A.: A Boat passing a Lock]</ref> Constable’s final attempt, ''The Leaping Horse'', was the only six-footer from the Stour series that didn’t sell in Constable’s lifetime.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bailey|2007|p= 164}}</ref>

== Later life ==

Constable’s pleasure at his own success was dampened after his wife started displaying symptoms of [[tuberculosis]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Charles|2015|p= 128}}</ref> Her growing illness meant that Constable took lodgings for his family in [[Brighton]] from 1824 until 1828,<ref name="vam.ac.uk"/> in the hope the sea air could restore her health.<ref>{{Harvnb|Reynolds|1983|p= 18}}</ref> During this period Constable split his time between Charlotte Street in London and Brighton. This change saw Constable move away from large scale Stour scenes in favour of coastal scenes.<ref>{{Harvnb|Thornes|1999|p= 128}}</ref> He continued painting six-foot canvases, although he was initially unsure of the suitability of Brighton as a subject for painting.<ref name="Tate: Chain Pier, Brighton">[https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/constable-chain-pier-brighton-n05957 Tate: Chain Pier, Brighton]</ref> In a letter to Fisher in 1824 he wrote

{{blockquote|The magnificence of the sea, and its (to use your own beautiful expression) everlasting voice, is drowned in the din & lost in the tumult of stage coaches - gigs - “flys” &c. -and the beach is only Piccadilly (that part of it where we dined) by the sea-side.<ref name="Tate: Chain Pier, Brighton">[https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/constable-chain-pier-brighton-n05957 Tate: Chain Pier, Brighton]</ref>}}

In his lifetime, Constable sold only 20 paintings in England, but in France he sold more than 20 in just a few years. Despite this, he refused all invitations to travel internationally to promote his work, writing to Francis Darby: "I would rather be a poor man [in England] than a rich man abroad."<ref name="Walker1979" />
In 1825, perhaps due partly to the worry of his wife's ill-health, the uncongeniality of living in Brighton ("Piccadilly by the seaside"<ref name="Thornes 1999 p= 128">{{Harvnb|Thornes|1999|p= 128}}</ref>), and the pressure of numerous outstanding commissions, he quarreled with Arrowsmith and lost his French outlet.

[[File:John Constable - Hadleigh Castle, The Mouth of the Thames--Morning after a Stormy Night - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Hadleigh Castle (painting)|Hadleigh Castle]]'' (1829). [[Yale Center for British Art]].]]
''Chain Pier, Brighton'' was his only ambitious six-foot painting of a Brighton subject, it was exhibited in 1827.<ref name="Reynolds 1983 20">{{Harvnb|Reynolds|1983|p= 20}}</ref> The Constables persevered in Brighton for five years to aid Maria’s health, but to no avail.<ref name="Reynolds 1983 20"/> After the birth of their seventh child in January 1828, they returned to Hampstead where Maria died on 23 November at the age of 41.<ref name="Reynolds 1983 21">{{Harvnb|Reynolds|1983|p= 21}}</ref> Intensely saddened, Constable wrote to his brother Golding, "hourly do I feel the loss of my departed Angel—God only knows how my children will be brought up...the face of the World is totally changed to me".<ref>{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 33}}</ref>

Thereafter, he dressed in black and was, according to Leslie, "a prey to melancholy and anxious thoughts". He cared for his seven children alone for the rest of his life. The children were John Charles, Maria Louisa, [[Charles Golding Constable|Charles Golding]], Isobel, Emma, Alfred, and Lionel. Only Charles Golding Constable produced offspring.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bomford.net/IrishBomfords/Chapters/Chapter33/chapter33.htm#33.5.1%C2%A0_The_Constable_Family_|title=Chapter 33|website=www.bomford.net|access-date=25 May 2019}}</ref> Several of Constable's children also painted, notably his son Lionel. While Lionel eventually gave up painting for photography, several of his works are within the collection of the [[Clark Art Institute]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Extensive Landscape with Clouds |url=https://www.clarkart.edu/artpiece/detail/extensive-landscape-with-clouds |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=www.clarkart.edu}}</ref>

Shortly before Maria died, her father had also died, leaving her £20,000. Constable speculated disastrously with the money, paying for the engraving of several [[mezzotint]]s of some of his landscapes in preparation for a publication. He was hesitant and indecisive, nearly fell out with his engraver, and when the folios were published, could not interest enough subscribers. Constable collaborated closely with mezzotinter [[David Lucas (engraver)|David Lucas]] on 40 prints after his landscapes, one of which went through 13 proof stages, corrected by Constable in pencil and paint. Constable said, "Lucas showed me to the public without my faults", but the venture was not a financial success.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mayor|1980|loc=nos 455–460}}</ref>

[[File:Constable Salisbury meadows.jpg|thumb|''[[Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows]]'' (1831). [[Tate Britain]].]]
This period saw his art move from the serenity of its earlier phase, to a more broken and accented style.<ref name="Reynolds 1983 21"/> The turmoil and distress of his mind is clearly seen in his later six-foot masterpieces ''[[Hadleigh Castle (painting)|Hadleigh Castle]]'' (1829)<ref name="Reynolds 1983 21"/> and ''[[Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows]]'' (1831), which are amongst his most expressive pieces.

He was elected to the [[Royal Academy]] in February 1829, at the age of 52. In 1831 he was appointed Visitor at the Royal Academy, where he seems to have been popular with the students.

He began to deliver public lectures on the history of landscape painting, which were attended by distinguished audiences. In a series of lectures at the [[Royal Institution]] in 1836, Constable proposed a three-fold thesis: firstly, painting "is ''scientific'' as well as ''poetic''"; secondly, "that imagination never did, and never can" produce art to bear comparison with reality; and thirdly, "that no great painter was ever self taught".{{sfn|Constable|1970|p=39}}

{{Multiple image
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| image1            = The grave of John Constable, High Hampstead, London.JPG
| caption1          = Constable's tomb at the church of St John-at-Hampstead, London
| image2            = The inscription on John Contable's tomb.JPG
| caption2          = The inscription on Constable's tomb
| align             = left
}}

He also spoke against the new [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] movement, which he considered mere "imitation".

In 1835, his last lecture to students of the Royal Academy, in which he praised Raphael and called the Academy the "cradle of British art", was "cheered most heartily".<ref>{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 50}}</ref> He died on the night of 31 March 1837, apparently from heart failure, and was buried with Maria in the graveyard of [[St John-at-Hampstead|St John-at-Hampstead Church]] in [[Hampstead]] in London. (His children John Charles Constable and [[Charles Golding Constable]] are also buried in this family tomb.){{clear}} His friend Charles Robert Leslie published his influential [[biography]] ''[[Memoirs of the Life of John Constable]]'' in 1843.<ref>Marter, Joan M. (ed.) ''The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art: Volume 2''. Oxford University Press, 2011. p.143</ref>

== Locations ==
[[Bridge Cottage]] is a [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]] property, open to the public. Nearby [[Flatford Mill]] and [[Willy Lott's Cottage]] (the house visible in ''[[The Hay Wain]]'') are used by the [[Field Studies Council]] for courses. The largest collection of original Constable paintings outside London is on display at [[Christchurch Mansion]] in Ipswich. [[Somerville College, Oxford]] is in possession of a portrait by Constable.

== Art ==
[[File:Constable - The Cornfield.jpg|thumb|left|''[[The Cornfield]]'' (1826). [[National Gallery, London]].]]
Constable quietly rebelled against the artistic culture that taught artists to use their imagination to compose their pictures rather than nature itself. He told Leslie, "When I sit down to make a sketch from nature, the first thing I try to do is to forget that I have ever seen a picture".<ref>{{Harvnb|Thornes|1999|p= 51}}</ref>

Constable attributed his gift 'to all that lay on the Stour river', however, biographer [[Anthony Bailey (author)|Anthony Bailey]] attributed his artistic development to the influence of his well to do relative, Thomas Allen and the London contacts he introduced Constable to.<ref>{{Citation |author=Bailey, Anthony |title=John Constable : a kingdom of his own |date=2008 |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/218805873 |publisher=Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic |oclc=218805873 |access-date=2022-10-02}}</ref>

Although Constable produced paintings throughout his life for the "finished" picture market of patrons and R.A. exhibitions, constant refreshment in the form of on-the-spot studies was essential to his working method. He was never satisfied with following a formula. "The world is wide", he wrote, "no two days are alike, nor even two hours; neither were there ever two leaves of a tree alike since the creation of all the world; and the genuine productions of art, like those of nature, are all distinct from each other."<ref name="Parkinson 1998 p= 64">{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 64}}</ref>

Constable painted many full-scale preliminary sketches of his landscapes to test the composition in advance of finished pictures. These large sketches, with their free and vigorous brushwork, were revolutionary at the time, and they continue to interest artists, scholars and the general public. The [[oil sketch]]es of [[:File:Constable3.jpg|''The Leaping Horse'']] and [[:File:John Constable 014.jpg|''The Hay Wain'']], for example, convey a vigour and expressiveness missing from Constable's finished paintings of the same subjects. Possibly more than any other aspect of Constable's work, the oil sketches reveal him in retrospect to have been an ''[[avant-garde]]'' painter, one who demonstrated that landscape painting could be taken in a totally new direction.
[[File:John Constable - Stonehenge - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''Stonehenge'' (1835). [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], London.]]
Constable's watercolours were also remarkably free for their time: the almost mystical ''Stonehenge'', 1835, with its double rainbow, is often considered to be one of the greatest watercolours ever painted.<ref name="Parkinson 1998 p= 64"/> When he exhibited it in 1836, Constable appended a text to the title: "The mysterious monument of [[Stonehenge]], standing remote on a bare and boundless heath, as much unconnected with the events of past ages as it is with the uses of the present, carries you back beyond all historical records into the obscurity of a totally unknown period."<ref>{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 89}}</ref>

In addition to the full-scale oil sketches, Constable completed numerous observational studies of landscapes and clouds, determined to become more scientific in his recording of atmospheric conditions. The power of his physical effects was sometimes apparent even in the full-scale paintings which he exhibited in London; [[:File:Constable2.jpg|''The Chain Pier'', 1827]], for example, prompted a critic to write: "the atmosphere possesses a characteristic humidity about it, that almost imparts the wish for an umbrella".<ref name="Parkinson 1998 p= 9"/>

[[File:Constable - Seascape Study with Rain Cloud.jpg|thumb|''Seascape Study with Rain Cloud'' (''c.''1824). [[Royal Academy of Arts]], London.]]
The sketches themselves were the first ever done in oils directly from the subject in the open air, with the notable exception of the oil sketches [[Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes]] made in Rome around 1780. To convey the effects of light and movement, Constable used broken brushstrokes, often in small touches, which he [[Glaze (painting technique)|scumbled]] over lighter passages, creating an impression of sparkling light enveloping the entire landscape. One of the most expressionistic and powerful of all his studies is ''Seascape Study with Rain Cloud'', painted about 1824 at Brighton, which captures with slashing dark brushstrokes the immediacy of an exploding cumulus shower at sea.<ref name="Thornes 1999 p= 128"/> Constable also became interested in painting rainbow effects, for example in ''[[Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows]]'', 1831, and in ''[[:File:John Constable - Cottage at East Bergholt.jpg|Cottage at East Bergholt]]'', 1833.

To the sky studies he added notes, often on the back of the sketches, of the prevailing weather conditions, direction of light, and time of day, believing that the sky was "the key note, the standard of scale, and the chief organ of sentiment" in a landscape painting.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 110}}</ref> In this habit he is known to have been influenced by the pioneering work of the [[meteorologist]] [[Luke Howard (meteorologist)|Luke Howard]] on the classification of clouds; Constable's annotations of his own copy of ''Researches About Atmospheric Phaenomena'' by Thomas Forster show him to have been fully abreast of meteorological terminology.<ref>{{Harvnb|Thornes|1999|p= 68}}</ref> "I have done a good deal of skying", Constable wrote to Fisher on 23 October 1821; "I am determined to conquer all difficulties, and that most arduous one among the rest".<ref>{{Harvnb|Thornes|1999|p= 56}}</ref>

Constable once wrote in a letter to Leslie, "My limited and abstracted art is to be found under every hedge, and in every lane, and therefore nobody thinks it worth picking up".<ref>{{Harvnb|Parkinson|1998|p= 129}}</ref> He could never have imagined how influential his honest techniques would turn out to be. Constable's art inspired not only contemporaries like [[Géricault]] and [[Eugène Delacroix|Delacroix]], but the [[Barbizon School]], and the French [[impressionists]] of the late nineteenth century.

In 2019 two drawings by Constable were found among the possessions of the late playwright and poet, [[Christopher Fry]]; the drawings later sold for £60,000 and £32,000 at auction.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://addisongazette.com/unearthed-john-constable-drawings-sell-for-92k/65469/|title=Unearthed John Constable drawings sell for £92k – Addison Gazette|access-date=25 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/03/john-constable-sketches-found-among-box-dusty-drawings-son-playwright/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/03/john-constable-sketches-found-among-box-dusty-drawings-son-playwright/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=John Constable sketches found among box of dusty drawings by son of playwright during clearout|first=Dalya|last=Alberge|newspaper=The Telegraph |date=3 February 2019|access-date=25 May 2019|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

=== Gallery ===
<gallery widths="300" heights="300">
File:Flatford Mill from the Lock.png|''[[Flatford Mill from the Lock]]'', 1812. [[Private collection]]
File:Constable - Boat-Building near Flatford Mill, 1815, FA.37.jpg|''[[Boat-Building Near Flatford Mill]]'', 1815. [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], [[London]].
File:John Constable - Flatford Mill.jpg| ''[[Flatford Mill (Scene on a Navigable River)]]'', c. 1816, oil on canvas, [[Tate Britain]], [[London]]
File:Constable, Stratford Mill.jpg|''[[Stratford Mill (Constable)|Stratford Mill]]'', 1820, oil on canvas, [[National Gallery]], [[London]]
File:John Constable - Harwich- The Low Lighthouse and Beacon Hill - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Harwich Lighthouse (painting)|Harwich Lighthouse]]'', oil on canvas, 1820. 
File:John Constable - Waterloo Bridge - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Waterloo Bridge (Constable)|Waterloo Bridge]]'', oil on canvas, 1820.
File:Hampstead Heath, with the House Called The Salt Box.png|''[[Hampstead Heath with the Salt Box]]'', oil on canvas, c.1820, [[Tate Britain]], [[London]]
File:Malvern hall.jpg|''[[Malvern Hall (painting)|Malvern Hall]]'' (1821), oil on canvas, 21 5/16 x 30 13/16 in. (54.1 x 78.3 cm), [[Clark Art Institute]]
File:Distant view.jpg|''Distant View of Salisbury Cathedral'' (1821), oil on panel, 6 13/16 x 10 1/16 in. (17.3 x 25.6 cm), [[Clark Art Institute]]
File:Constable, View on the Stour near Dedham.jpg| ''[[View on the Stour near Dedham]]'', 1822, oil on canvas, [[Huntington Library]], [[Los Angeles County]]
File:The Leaping Horse (1825) by John Constable - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[The Leaping Horse]]'', 1825, oil on canvas, [[Royal Academy of Arts]], [[London]]
File:John Constable - Branch Hill Pond, Hampstead Heath (1820s).jpg|''[[Branch Hill Pond, Hampstead Heath]]'', oil on canvas, 1825
File:John Constable - Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Garden - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds]]'' c. 1825. As a gesture of appreciation for [[John Fisher (Anglican bishop)|John Fisher]], the [[Bishop of Salisbury]], who commissioned this painting, Constable included the Bishop and his wife in the bottom left corner. [[Frick Collection]], [[New York City]].
File:John Constable - Parham Mill, Gillingham - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Parham Mill]]'', 1826
File:Constable2.jpg|''[[Chain Pier, Brighton (painting)|Chain Pier, Brighton]]'', 1826–27, oil on canvas, [[Tate Britain]], [[London]]
File:Vale of Health, Hampstead (Constable).png|''[[Vale of Health, Hampstead]]'', c. 1827, [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], [[London]]
[[File:John Constable (1776-1837) - Gillingham Bridge, Dorset - NG1244 - Tate.jpg|thumb]]

File:The Opening of Waterloo Bridge seen from Whitehall Stairs John Constable.jpeg|''[[The Opening of Waterloo Bridge]]'', oil on canvas, c. 1832. [[Tate Britain]], [[London]].
File:John Constable - Sir Richard Steele's Cottage, Hampstead - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Sir Richard Steele's Cottage, Hampstead]]'', oil on canvas, 1832.
File:Arundel Mill and Castle ).jpg|''[[Arundel Mill and Castle]]'', oil on canvas, 1837.
File:John Constable carro de feno.jpg|A detail of ''The Hay Wain'' by John Constable|alt=An oil painting of a large steerable cart being drawn by two strong horses through a river
</gallery>

== Selected paintings ==
{{Main|List of paintings by John Constable}}
* [[:file:Constable DeadhamVale.jpg|''Dedham Vale'']] (1802) <small>– [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], London</small>
*''The Stour'' (1810) <small>– Philadelphia Museum of Art</small><ref>{{Cite web|last=Thompson|first=Jennifer A.|title=The Stour by John Constable (cat. 857)|url=https://publications.philamuseum.org/entries/102686|website=The John G. Johnson Collection: A History and Selected Works|publisher=A Philadelphia Museum of Art free digital publication}}</ref>
* ''[[Boys Fishing|Landscape: Two Boys Fishing]]'' (1813) <small>– [[Anglesey Abbey]], Cambs, NT</small>
* ''[[:File:John Constable - Ploughing Scene in Suffolk - Google Art Project.jpg|Landscape: Ploughing Scene in Suffolk]]'' (1814, revised c. 1816 and 1831) <small>– [[Yale Center for British Art]], [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]]</small>
* ''[[:File:The Mill Stream, Flatford By John Constable.jpg| The Mill Stream, Flatford]]'' (1814) <small>– [[Christchurch Mansion]], [[Ipswich]]</small>
*''[[:File:John Constable Stour Valley and Dedham Church.jpg|The Stour Valley And Dedham Village]]'' (1814–1815) <small>– [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]]</small><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8479295.stm|title=John Constable's Stour Valley location mystery solved |work=BBC News|date=26 January 2010|access-date=26 January 2010}}</ref>
* ''[[Boat-Building Near Flatford Mill]]'' (1815) <small>– Victoria and Albert Museum, London</small>
* ''[[Golding Constable's Flower Garden]]'' (1815) <small>– Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich</small>
* ''[[Golding Constable's Kitchen Garden]]'' (1815) <small>– Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich</small>
* ''[[:File:John Constable 022.jpg|Portrait of Maria Bicknell, Mrs. John Constable]]'' (1816) <small>– [[Tate Britain]], London</small>
* ''[[Wivenhoe Park (painting)|Wivenhoe Park, Essex]]'' (1816) <small>– [[National Gallery of Art]], Washington, D.C.</small>
* ''[[The Quarters behind Alresford Hall]]'' (1816) <small>– [[National Gallery of Victoria]], Melbourne</small>
* ''[[Flatford Mill (Scene on a Navigable River)|Flatford Mill]]'' (original title ''Scene on a Navigable River)'' (1816) <small>– Tate Britain, London</small>
*''Two Donkeys'' (1816) <small>– Philadelphia Museum of Art</small><ref>{{Cite web|last=Thompson|first=Jennifer A.|title=Two Donkeys by John Constable (inv. 155)|url=https://publications.philamuseum.org/entries/103602|website=The John G. Johnson Collection: A History and Selected Works|publisher=A Philadelphia Museum of Art free digital publication}}</ref>
* ''[[Weymouth Bay: Bowleaze Cove and Jordon Hill]]'' (1816–17) <small>– [[National Gallery (London)|National Gallery]], London</small>
* ''[[:File:John Constable A Cottage in a Cornfield.jpg|A Cottage in a Cornfield]]'' (1817) <small>– [[National Museum Cardiff]] </small>
* ''[[:File:Weymouth Bay With Approaching Storm.jpg|Weymouth Bay with Approaching Storm]]'' (1819) <small>– [[Louvre]], [[Paris]]</small>
* ''[[The White Horse (Constable)|The White Horse]]'' (''A Scene on the River Stour'') (1819) <small>– [[Frick Collection]], New York City</small>
* ''[[:File:John Constable - Harwich- The Low Lighthouse and Beacon Hill - Google Art Project.jpg|Harwich- The Low Lighthouse and Beacon Hill]]'' (1820) <small>– Yale Center for British Art, New Haven</small>
* ''[[Hampstead Heath (painting)|Hampstead Heath]]'' (1820) <small>– [[Fitzwilliam Museum]], [[Cambridge]]</small>
* ''[[:File:John Constable 023.jpg|Dedham Lock and Mill]]'' (1820) <small>– Victoria and Albert Museum, London</small>
* ''[[Stratford Mill (Constable)|Stratford Mill]]'' (1820) <small>– National Gallery, London</small>
* ''[[The Hay Wain]]'' (original title ''Landscape: Noon''; 1821) <small>– National Gallery, London</small>
* ''[[:File:John Constable - The Grove, or the Admiral's House in Hampstead - Google Art Project.jpg|The Grove, or the Admiral's House in Hampstead]]'' (1821–22) <small>– [[Alte Nationalgalerie]], Berlin</small>
* ''[[:File:Constable, View on the Stour near Dedham.jpg|View on the Stour near Dedham]]'' (1822) <small>– [[The Huntington Library]], [[San Marino, California|San Marino]], [[California|CA]]</small>
* ''[[Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds]]'' (1823) <small>– Victoria and Albert Museum, London</small>
*''[[The Lock (Constable)|The Lock]]'' (1824) <small>– ''Private Collection'' </small>
* ''[[:File:Constable - Seascape Study with Rain Cloud.jpg|Seascape Study with Rain Clouds]]'' (1824–25) <small>– [[Royal Academy of Arts]], London</small>
* ''Brighton Beach'' (c. 1824–26) <small>– [[Dunedin Public Art Gallery]], Dunedin</small>
* ''[[The Leaping Horse]]'' (1825) <small>– Royal Academy of Arts, London</small>
* ''[[Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds]]'' (1825) <small>– Frick Collection, New York City</small>
* ''[[The Cornfield]]'' (1826) <small>– National Gallery, London</small>
* ''[[Chain Pier, Brighton (painting)|Chain Pier, Brighton]]'' (1827) <small>– Tate Britain, London</small> 
* ''[[The Vale of Dedham (painting)|The Vale of Dedham]]'' (1828) <small>– [[National Gallery of Scotland]], Edinburgh</small>
* ''[[Hadleigh Castle (painting)|Hadleigh Castle]]'' (1829) <small>– Yale Center for British Art and sketch Tate Britain</small>
* ''[[Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows]]'' (1831) <small>– Tate Britain, London</small>
* ''[[Sir Richard Steele's Cottage, Hampstead]]'' (1832) <small>– Yale Center for British Art</small>
* ''[[The Opening of Waterloo Bridge]]'' (1832) <small>– Tate Britain, London</small>
* ''[[The Valley Farm]]'' (1835) <small>– Tate Britain, London</small> 
* ''[[:File:John Constable - Stonehenge - Google Art Project.jpg|Stonehenge]]'' (1835) <small>– Victoria and Albert Museum, London</small>
* ''[[Hampstead Heath with a Rainbow]]'' (1836) <small>– Tate Britain, London</small>
* ''[[:File:John Constable - Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds - Google Art Project.jpg|Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds]]'' (1836) <small>– National Gallery, London</small>
* ''[[Arundel Mill and Castle]]'' (c. 1836–37) <small>– [[Toledo Museum of Art]], [[Toledo, Ohio|Toledo]], [[Ohio|OH]]</small>

== Notes ==
{{reflist|20em}}

== Bibliography ==
{{Refbegin|60em}}
* {{citation|last=Bailey |first=Anthony  |title=John Constable: A Kingdom of His Own |place=London |publisher= Vintage |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84413-833-3 }}
* {{citation|last=Beckett |first=Ronald B. |title=John Constable's Correspondence VI: The Fishers |place=Woodbridge |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |year=1962 |isbn= 978-0-90071-609-6 }}
* {{citation|last=Charles |first=Victoria  |title=Constable |place= New York |publisher=Parkstone International |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-78042-954-0}}
* {{citation|last=Constable |first=Freda  |title=John Constable|place= Lavenham|publisher=Terence Dalton|year=1975|isbn=0-900963-54-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Constable |first=John |editor-first=R. B. |editor-last=Beckett |title=John Constable's Discourses |location=Ipswich |publisher=[[Suffolk Records Society]] |year=1970 }}
* {{citation|last=Cormack |first=Malcolm  |title=Constable|place=Oxford |publisher=Phaidon|year=1986|isbn=0-7148-2350-3}}
* {{citation|last=Fleming-Williams |first=Ian  |title=Constable: Landscape Watercolours & Drawings|place=London |publisher=Tate|year=1976|isbn=0-905005-10-4}}
* {{citation|last1=Fleming-Williams |first1=Ian  |last2=Parris|first2=Leslie|title=The Discovery of Constable|place=London |publisher=Hamish Hamilton|year=1984|isbn=0-241-11248-6}}
* {{citation|last=Fraser|first=John Lloyd|title=John Constable: 1776–1837|place=Newton Abbot, UK|publisher=Readers Union|year=1976|isbn=0-09-125540-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/johnconstable1770000fras}}
* {{citation|last=Gayford|first=Martin|title=Constable in Love: Love, Landscape, Money and the Making of a Great Painter|publisher=Fig Tree |year=2009}}
* {{citation|last=Hamilton|first=James|title=Constable: A Portrait|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|year=2022|isbn= 978-1474612913}}
* {{citation|last=Holmes |first=Charles John  |title=John Constable: Illustrated |publisher= The Bookmill|year=2012 |isbn=978-0-9567303-6-7 }} [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Constable-Illustrated-ebook/dp/B0073LLDXC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1330178670&sr=1-1 Kindle]
* {{citation|last=Kelder |first=Diane  |title= The Great Book of French Impressionism |place= New York|publisher= Abbeville Press |year= 1980|isbn= 0-89659-151-4}}
* {{citation|last=Johnson |first=Paul  |title= The Birth of the Modern: World Society 1815-1830 |place= University of Michigan|publisher= HarperCollins |year= 1991 |isbn= 9780060165741}}
* {{citation|last=Leslie |first=C. R.  |title= Memoirs of the Life of John Constable | editor1-first= Jonathan |editor1-last= Mayne |place= London|publisher= Phaidon |year= 1995|isbn= 0-7148-3360-6}}
* {{citation|editor-last=Lyles |editor-first=Anne|title=Constable: The Great Landscapes|place=London|publisher=Tate Publishing|year=2006|isbn=1-85437-635-7}}
* {{citation|last=Mayor |first=A. Hyatt  |title= Prints & People: A Social History of Printed Pictures|place= Princeton, N. J.|publisher= Princeton University Press|year= 1980|issue= nos 455–60|isbn= 0-691-00326-2}}
* {{citation|last=Parkinson |first=Ronald|title=John Constable: The Man and His Art|place=London|publisher=V&A|year=1998|isbn=1-85177-243-X}}
* {{citation|last1=Parris |first1=Leslie  |last2=Fleming-Williams|first2=Ian|title=Constable|place=London |publisher=Tate|year=1991|isbn=1-85437-070-7}}
* {{citation|last1=Parris |first1=Leslie  |last2=Fleming-Williams|first2=Ian|title=Lionel Constable|place=London |publisher=Tate|year=1982|isbn=0-905005-38-4}}
* {{citation|last1=Parris|first1=Leslie|last2=Fleming-Williams|first2=Ian|last3=Shields|first3=Conal|title=Constable: Paintings, Watercolours & Drawings|place=London|publisher=Tate Gallery|year=1976|isbn=0-905005-15-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/constablepaintin0000parr}}
* {{citation|last=Pool|first=Phoebe  |title=John Constable|place= London|publisher=Blandford|year=1964|oclc=3365016}}
* {{citation|last=Reynolds |first=Graham |author-link=Graham Reynolds (art historian)  |title=Constable: The Natural Painter|place=St Albans, UK |publisher=Panther|year=1976|isbn=0-586-04401-9}}
*{{citation |last=Reynolds |first=Graham |title=Constable's England |place=New York, NY |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=1983 |isbn=9780870993350 |url=https://archive.org/details/constablesenglan00grah |url-access=registration }}
* {{citation|last=Rhyne |first=Charles |title="The Remarkable Story of the 'Six-Foot Sketches'", Constable: The Great Landscapes, ed. Anne Lyles|place=London|publisher=Tate|year=2006|isbn=978-1-85437-635-0}}
* {{citation|last=Rhyne |first=Charles |title=John Constable: Toward a Complete Chronology|place=Portland, Oregon|publisher=Author|year=1990|isbn=0-9627197-0-6}}
* {{citation|last=Rosenthal|first=Michael|title=Constable|place=London|publisher=Thames and Hudson|year=1987|isbn=0-500-20211-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/constable00rose}}
* {{citation|last=Rosenthal|first=Michael|title=Constable: The Painter and His Landscape|place=New Haven, CT.|publisher=Yale University Press|year=1983|isbn=0-300-03014-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/constablepainter0000rose}}
* {{citation|last1=Smart |first1=Alastair  |last2=Brooks|first2=Attfield|title=Constable and His Country| place=London|publisher=Elek|year=1976|isbn=0-236-40011-8}}
* {{citation|last=Sunderland |first=John  |title=Constable|place= London|publisher=Phaidon|year=1986|isbn=978-0-7148-2754-4}}
* {{citation|last=Thornes |first= John E. |title= John Constable's Skies |place= Birmingham|publisher= University of Birmingham Press|year= 1999|isbn= 1-902459-02-4}}
* {{citation|last=Vaughan |first=William  |title=John Constable|place=London |publisher=Tate|year=2002|isbn=1-85437-434-6}}
* {{citation|last=Walker |first= John  |title= Constable|place= London|publisher= Thames and Hudson|year= 1979|isbn= 0-500-09133-1}}
* {{citation|last=Wilcox |first= Timothy  |title= Constable and Salisbury. The soul of landscape|place= London|publisher= Scala|year= 2011|isbn= 978-1-85759-678-6}}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons-inline|Paintings by John Constable}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Art UK bio}}
* John Constable: [http://www.greatworksofwesternart.net/artistsandpaintings/painting/17/ Sketch for Hadleigh Castle c1828] – Great Works of Western Art
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130721100856/http://constablesclouds.com/ A gallery of Constable's cloud studies]
* [http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?record=ART88 Web feature] from [[Royal Academy of Arts]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061020072807/http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2006/constable/earlylife.shtm Constable's Great Landscapes: The Six-Foot Paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC]
* [http://academic.reed.edu/art/faculty/rhyne/pubs.html#john John Constable: a complete chronology and other articles]
* [http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/c/constables-oil-sketches/ Constable's Oil Sketches] [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070516205528/http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/paintings/galleries/display/constable/index.html A Sketchbook by Constable] Victoria and Albert Museum
* [https://collections.vam.ac.uk/name/constable-john-ra/221/ List of works held by the Victoria and Albert Museum]
* [http://www.john-constable.org 390 paintings by John Constable at www.John-Constable.org]
* [http://www.museumsyndicate.com/artist.php?artist=67 Gallery of Constable Paintings at MuseumSyndicate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322185103/http://www.museumsyndicate.com/artist.php?artist=67 |date=22 March 2009 }}
* [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/mar/04/john-constable-art-culture1 Portraits by the artist as a young man: Constable's parents finally identified, ''The Guardian'', March 4, 2009]
*[https://archive.org/details/memoirsoflifeofj00lesluoft ''Memoirs of the Life of John Constable'', ed C. R. Leslie 1843]
*[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15324coll10/id/102063 ''Romanticism & the school of nature : nineteenth-century drawings and paintings from the Karen B. Cohen collection''], fully digitized text from The Metropolitan Museum of Art libraries
*[https://www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/archives-and-library/archive-collections/charles-rhyne Charles Rhyne Archive] - Research on John Constable
*[https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/turner-and-constable Turner and Constable] 2025 exhibition at the Tate Britain

{{John Constable|state=expanded}}
{{Romanticism|state=collapsed}}

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[[Category:John Constable| ]]
[[Category:Burials at St John-at-Hampstead]]
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[[Category:19th-century English painters]]
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[[Category:18th-century English male artists]]