John CONSTABLE
John Constable and J.M.W. Turner are arguably the finest exponents of
nineteenth-century British landscape painting. Indeed, it has often been
stated that they elevated the genre to a level on a par with history
painting.
Constable studied the work of great landscape artists who
preceded him, such as Claude Lorrain, Salvator Rosa, Jacob van Ruisdael, Rembrandt, and Thomas
Gainsborough. He also spent much time out of doors, working directly from
nature, and adapted these open-air studies to fully worked paintings in the
studio. Throughout his career he concentrated on a comparatively limited
number of locations, producing many versions of particular areas in a variety
of weather and atmospheric conditions.
This lock, located in Flatford
in Suffolk, the county in which Constable was born, is the subject of many of
his paintings. Some writers have stated that the sketchiness of this work
indicates it was not 'finished', or was a study for another painting.
However, the foreground in particular is fully worked and forms a striking
contrast with the loosely painted background and the figure operating the
lock.
John CONSTABLE
English 1776–1837
Study of a boat passing a lock
c.1823
oil on canvas
103.5 x 129.9 cm
Felton Bequest 1951
2900-4
List other works from the Master's Eye exhibition
