John Constable was born in Suffolk in 1776, and was admitted as a student to the RA in 1799. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, especially the Annual Exhibition, for a number of years before he gained full membership to the establishment. Constable became an associate member in 1819, but it was not until 1829 that full membership was his, and even then it was a close run thing. He won by just a single vote.
Constable married Maria Bicknell in 1816 and in 1819 he moved his family to Hampstead, due to the ill health of his wife. The most famous of his paintings, The Hey Wain (1824) was not on show in the exhibition. It received a gold award from the Paris Salon.
Constable frequently moved his family to Brighton, again due to Maria’s ill health. The last of these visits came in 1828, an extended stay. In late November Maria died of TB. It is said Constable wore mourning clothes for the rest of his life.
In 1831 Constable taught at the RA, and in 1832 there was the famous stand-off at the Annual Exhibition with Turner, who reportedly upstaged Constable’s The Opening of Waterloo Bridge (on show at the exhibition) by adding a blob of red paint to his own Helvoetsluys.
Constable taught Life Class in the Painting School at the RA in March 1837, but unexpectedly died on 1st April. He was buried alongside Maria at St John-at-Hampstead. Arundel Mill and Castle which Constable had been working on was posthumously exhibited at the Royal Academy that year. Although not quite finished, I could not tell. It looks complete to me!
It was interesting to see Constable’s preparatory sketches, both pencil and oil alongside the finished painting. He worked mainly in oil, but later also watercolour.
This was a very enjoyable exhibition. I believe I have seen the house he lived in when in Hampstead. Somewhere in my archive of photos, I have a shot of the blue plaque outside it.
The exhibition runs to 13th February. See here.
My London+ 