Gillian Forrester

A fascinating introduction to the life and work of John Constable, highlighting key aspects of his innovative practice and the ways in which he brought a new vivacity to the observation of nature in nineteenth-century art. John Constable (1776-1837) is one of the greatest landscape painters of all time. Inspired by nature and the ever-changing British weather, he dedicated his...

Landscape art in the early 19th century was guided by two rival concepts: the picturesque, which emphasised touristic pleasures and visual delight, and the sublime, an aesthetic category rooted in notions of fear and danger. British artists, including J.M.W. Turner and John Constable, raised landscape painting to new heights, and their work reached global audiences through the circulation of engravings....