Late Constable

Fascinating online lecture from ARTscapes looking at the later life and work of John Constable.

Nicola Moorby, Former curator at Tate Britain, talked about the current  show at the Royal Academy which shines a light on a less familiar part of Constables career. She talked us through his earlier block buster works, the River Stour Six-Footers, which were seen as the pinnacle of work but then went to analyse the later works which have sometimes been seen as a falling off in his style.

Alongside talking about the work she likened it to his life with the death of his wife, his election to the Royal Academy and his own ill health. She talked about how experimental his work was in this period not only working in oil but also returning to experiments in watercolour, prints and ink.

We also looked at how Constable was trying to use his work to elevate landscape painting to the prestige of history painting at the time particularly looking at “Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds” from 1833-6.

I’ve not seen the exhibition yet but look forward to going in the New Year with a greater knowledge and admiration of this work.

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