Constable Close –  John Constable (1776-1837)

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/john-constable
https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/john-constable-ra

John Constable was born in Suffolk, which he painted so often it became known as ‘Constable country’ and was a largely self-taught artist. He then studied at the Royal Academy and exhibited there from 1802. Dutch masters, such as Rubens, influenced his painting. His career was devoted to capturing nature on canvas, which during his lifetime was not a popular subject. In 1819 Constable began work on a series of six-foot canvases, including The Leaping Horse and The Hay Wain. He and his wife Maria settled in Hampstead, where Constable hoped the clear air would restore her health. His famous sky studies were created in the 1820s and 30s. He painted Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, one of his most famous works, in 1831. Constable was elected a Royal Academician in 1829. In 1832 he exhibited The Opening of Waterloo Bridge at the Summer Exhibition, which was hung alongside JMW Turner’s Helvoetsluys – prompting Turner to add a bright-red buoy to his work in a bid to outshine Constable. Constable compared the act to ‘firing a gun’. He died suddenly in 1837, leaving many unsold works.