Artists & Illustrators - UK (2021-04)

HeatherleySchool ofFineArttutorandartistLAURASMITHcontinuesherlook

attheOldMasterswithanotherexerciseto improveyourcomposition skills

A

fterhismarriagein1816,a 40-year-oldJohn

Constableleftthefieldsandriversofhisbeloved

SuffolkandsettledmorepermanentlyinLondon.

Hehadbeeninthehabitofpaintingoutdoorsinthe

countrysidehe’dknownallhislife.Hisstudiowas,forthe

firsttime,milesfromhissubject.Hewaspresentedwith

thechallengeofhowtopaintambitiousRoyalAcademy-

worthypaintingswithoutthewindblowingthroughthe

treesinfrontofhiseyes.

Hewasdeterminedtocontinuepaintinglandscapesand

onlyhisownDedhamValewoulddo.Hedecidedtousethe

manysmalldrawingsandoilstudiesinhisstudiotocreate

thelarge-scalecompositionshehadinmind.In 1821 he

wrotetohisfriendJohnFisher,“I donotconsidermyselfat

workwithoutI ambeforea six-footcanvas.”

Between 1819 and1825,hepainteda seriesofsix-foot

paintings(commonlyknownas“thesix-footers”)ofthe

comingsandgoingsalongtheRiverStour,themost

famousofwhichisTheHayWain. ThepictureI wantto

focusupon(alongwithitsaccompanyingstudies)was

thelastinthisseries,completedin1825.

Takentogether,thesesixlargeRiverStourpaintings

marka newphaseinConstable’scareer.Nowinhis

forties,withatleast 10 yearsofprofessionallandscape

paintingbehindhim,hewantedtoapplyhimselfto

creatingonelargepaintingeachyeartobeexhibited

attheRoyalAcademyofArtsinLondon(RA).

Todothis,Constablehitonanunusualwayof

constructinghispictures:thatofstretchinguptwo

identicallysizedcanvasesandtreatingoneasa studyand

TOPRIGHTJohn
Constable,The
LeapingHorse
(V&AFull-Scale
Study),1825,
oiloncanvas,
188x129.4cm

RIGHTJohn
Constable,The
LeapingHorse
(RoyalAcademy
Version),1825,
oiloncanvas,
187.3x142cm

For all his nostalgia...

Constable was a

revolutionary, arebel in

Jane Austen society

DRAWING OLD MASTERS

2 Constable

one as an exhibition picture. This gave him enormous

freedom to take risks with the sketch, without overloading

the final picture with paint or obliterating something that

needed to be kept. He could make quick changes in a

sketchy way without risk.

This method of undertaking a full-scale oil painting on

canvas before embarking on the exhibition painting

appears to be unique. These huge oil studies are thrillingly

© ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS, LONDON