Born to paint a happier land

Thanks to vast canvases such as The Hay Wain, we might think we already know John Constable’s inimitable style. However, in later life, his work–now on show at the Royal Academy–became more radical and expressive, says Peyton Skipwith

- Peyton Skipwith

ASKED to name three quintessentially English artists of the 18th or 19th century off the top of their heads, most people today would nominate Gainsborough, Constable and Turner, in no particular order. However, it wasn’t always thus. Gainsborough and Turner enjoyed considerable success during their lives, but Constable, dedicated as he was to Nature, faced an uphill struggle; it wasn’t until 1824, when The Hay Wain and View on the Stour were shown at the Paris Salon, that he began to attract popular acclaim. His friend John Fisher wrote at the time: ‘It makes me smile to myself when I think of plain English John Constable, who does not know a word of their language being the talk and the admiration of the French!’

Constable was the most archetypal English artist. He was a Suffolk man, born and bred, and his horizons remained insular, bounded by Leicestershire to the north, where he stayed with the collector Sir George Beaumont, bar a trip to the Lake District; Brighton to the south, where he repaired for longish spells for the health of his wife, Maria, and their children; and Wessex to the west, drawn by the friendship and patronage of Archdeacon John Fisher, rector of Osmington, and his uncle, the Bishop of Salisbury. For much of his professional life, he lived in London. In 1822, on the death of Joseph Farington, he took over his house and studio at 35, Charlotte Street and in Hampstead, initially taking lodgings in South Terrace—again for his wife’s health —before purchasing 40, Well Walk, which was to remain his home for the rest of his life.