Tim Barringer

A captivating celebration of one of the most important painters of the nineteenth century and the continuing relevance of his work John Constable (1776–1837) is considered one of England’s greatest landscape painters. Underappreciated in his lifetime, Constable achieved international acclaim following his death and was a major inspiration for Eugène Delacroix, the Barbizon School painters, the Impressionists, and many others....

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....