The simplicity was also sincerity. The contemporary British painter Lucian Freud, German-born and Dedham art-school trained, selected Constable’s works for a large Paris exhibition in 2002–3; he said that ‘in Constable there is no false feeling. For me, Constable is so much more moving than Turner because you feel for him, it’s truth-telling about the land rather than using the land for compositions which suited his inventiveness.’ The ‘natural painter’ wasn’t into bravura. But truth-telling can be painful. Freud noted that it was impossible to think of van Gogh without recalling Constable’s dark-shadowed late paintings.31 And Constable’s celebrity creates its own feeling of déjà vu. Barges, farm wagons, slimy posts, lock gates, cornfields … all lead to critical close-down. Social historians condemn him for looking at landscape through a landowner’s eyes. Anita Brookner complains that none of the workers in his landscapes saunters easily through them: ‘all his characters have the appearance of serfs’.32
His territory also carries its burden. ‘Constable Country’ has become a real-estate term, albeit one in which the National Trust as well as developers and estate agents have a stake; the Trust owns a good deal of the land around Flatford. The ancient core of East Bergholt is now surrounded by executive housing for commuters to Ipswich and Colchester. But the centre of the village remains the curiously disjointed coming together of roads it was in Constable’s childhood, with church and pub prominent, and the main street curving in a way that makes visitors question their heading. St Mary’s church sits at a right-angle bend of the road, with the Dunthorne tomb standing near the graveyard wall and the sundial, still fixed over the church door, that John Dunthorne Senior kept painted. The old Constable family house has gone, but Constable’s little gambrel-roofed studio, Moss Cottage, stands nicely preserved next to a car-repair garage and across from the Red Lion. East Bergholt took its somewhat inchoate form from its large tract of common land and the lanes that radiated off around it to the ‘ends’ – the scattered dependent hamlets at Flatford, East End and Burnt Oak. The lane down to Flatford now decants tourist traffic into a fairly secluded National Trust car park. From here those looking for the scenes that made John Constable a painter can walk to the mill and the miller’s house, now a nature study centre, to Willy Lott’s house, and to the lock and a footbridge over the Stour with a riverside footpath through the meadows. From the slopes above the river the tower of Dedham church can still be seen, though when the leaves are off the trees you can also glimpse on the four-lane A12 the tops of the trucks whose sound just carries. However, autumn and winter are not Constable’s seasons.33 Spring and summer are, with the trees in leaf, the wheat ripening, any storms passing away, the white clouds scudding, and England as it never will be again.
The Hay Wain (detail)
Golding Constable’s Kitchen Garden
The Road to the Spaniards
East Bergholt Fair
Maria Constable & two of her children (detail)
View of Dedham from Gun Hill
Hadleigh Castle
Fen Lane
Study of Cumulus Clouds
The Leaping Horse (detail)
Salisbury Cathedral (from the south-west)
Brighton Beach and Colliers
The Skylark
View of London from Hampstead
A Country Lane (‘Stoke by Nayland’)
Notes
In order to suppress what might become a tsunami of notes, I have not cited every reference to letters appearing in four volumes of the Correspondence: Volume I, The Family at East Bergholt 1807–1837; Volume II, Early Friends and Maria Bicknell; Volume III, The Correspondence with C.R. Leslie, R.A.; and Volume VI, The Fishers. From the context it will generally be clear in which of these volumes a reader in search of further sources ought to look. His parents, brothers and sisters are present in Volume I. John Dunthorne Senior and Maria Bicknell figure greatly in Volume II. (The editorial material by Ronald Beckett introducing and surrounding the letters also contains many useful biographical details and these are also not ‘afternoted’.) However, if I have suspected that for some unusual reason there is a need to specify a reference to one of these volumes, I have cited the volume as CI, CII, CIII or CVI, and the page number. Further information about specific pictures can be got from the Reynolds volumes, Early and Later, or the catalogues to the Tate exhibitions of 1976 and 1991. My last chapter is particularly indebted to The Discovery of Constable by Ian Fleming-Williams and Leslie Parris.
Preface
1 Mosley p399.
2 CIV p325; Leslie p210.
3 C:FDC p103 n1.
1. Day-Spring
1 Victoria History of the County of Essex; letter to the author from Angela Green.
2 Leslie p22.
3 Reynolds in Salander–O’Reilly 1988 p5; Leslie p23.
4 Owen & Brown p69.
5 Discourses p94.
6 Leslie pp24–5; Reynolds Early p1.
7 Albus p148; Shirley 1949 p43.
8 Farrer, The Dunthorne Mss.
9 C:FDC p54; CVI p78.
10 Freda Constable p14.
11 Freda Constable p21; Leslie p25.
12 Whitley 1930 p169; Owen & Brown p219.
13 C:FDC pp196, 199-200; Reynolds Early, p7.
14 C:FDC p31; Freda Constable p22.
15 Reynolds Early p21; Farington IV p1164.
2. A Hero in Distress
1 C:FDC pp201–2.
2 Gilbert pp126–7.
3 Reynolds Early p27; Gadney p20; Farington IV p1380.
4 G. Leslie pp6–9.
5 K. Clark 1976 p49.
6 Farington IV p1365.
7 Owen & Brown p151.
8 C:FDC p55.
9 Leslie pp32–3.
10 C:FDC p55; G. Leslie p7.
11 Farington IV p1544.
12 Farington IV p1516.
13 Farington IV pp1515, 1568, 1576.
14 Reynolds Early p37.
15 CVI pp6–7.
16 Farington V p1764.
17 Farington V p1764.
3. Nature’s Proper Interest
1 Farington VI pp2082–3.
2 Farington VI pp2202, 2238.
3 Farington VI p2340.
4 Owen & Brown p152.
5 Leslie p37.
6 Reynolds Early p60.
7 Farington VII p2712.
8 CV pp2–3.
9 Leslie p37.
10 CV p6.
11 Keats pp131, 162.
12 Johnson p97.
13 Farington VIII pp3162–5.
14 Keats p83.
15 Tate 1991 pp21, 398.
16 Tate 1991 p21 fig 4.
17 Whitley 1928 p122.
18 Farington VIII pp3001, 3080–1.
19 C:FDC pp134–7.
20 Leslie p38.
21 CIV pp12–14, 19–23.
22 6 February 1808 document in R. Constable collection.
23 Reynolds Early p58.
24 A. Lyles Burlington March 1999 p181; Payne pp32 & 63.
25 Farington X p3620.
26 Ivy pp64–5.
27 CIV pp236–7; C:FDC pp202, 222.
28 C:FDC p314.
29 Farington IX p3280.
30 CIV pp31, 236–7.
31 Reynolds Early p121.
4. A Cure for Love
1 Discourses pp93–4.
2 Elam p47.
3 Farington XI pp3916, 3921.
4 Farington XI p3944.
5 Gombrich p316.
6 Parris & Shields Constable: the Art of Nature 1971 p7.
7 CIV p16.
8 CIV p27.
9 CIV pp28–9.
10 CIV p31.
11 C:FDC p314.
12 Farington XI pp4025–6.
13 Tate 1991 p23.
14 Farington XII p4250.
5. Avoiding Notice
1 Tate 1991 pp131-2.
2 Farington XII p4291.
3 Tate 1991 p132.
4 C:FDC p33.
5 Faringt
on XIII p4495.
6 Tate 1991 p25.
7 Tate 1991 pp153–5.
8 CIV p218.
9 Whitley 1928 pp244–5; Ivy p70.
10 Farington XIII p4364.
11 Freda Constable p65.
12 Rosenthal 1983 p83.
6. Ready to Marry – Perhaps
1 Tate 1991 p25.
2 Colley p158.
3 CIV p45; Tate 1991 p315.
4 Whitley 1928 p258.
5 CIV p46.
6 Farington XIV pp4864–6.
7 Leslie p85.
8 Gombrich pp48, 299, 387–8; J. Clarkson, et al pp13–20.
9 City of Westminster archives; CVI p7 n1.
10 Farington XIV p4844.
11 Farington XIV pp4921–2.
12 Whitley 1928 p256.
13 Tate 1991 p26.
14 Tate 1991 p430.
7. Housekeeping
1 Farington XIV p5035.
2 Freda Constable p72.
3 Leslie p91.
4 Leslie pp90–1.
5 Whitley 1928 p269.
6 Flora Thompson Lark Rise p257.
7 Tate 1991 pp26, 179, 184–5; Leslie p32.
8 Farington XV pp5174–5.
9 Ivy pp74–8.
10 Farington XV pp5284-5.
11 C:FDC p322.
12 Tate 1991 p27.
13 Farington XV p5345.
14 K. Clark 1976 p150.
15 Reynolds Later p28; Whitley 1928 pp300–1; Leslie pp92, 94–5.
16 John Constable and the Fishers pp37, 43; Tate 1991 p27.
17 Cook p2.
18 Tate 1976 p108; Farington XV p5400.
19 F. Redgrave p56.
20 Collins I pp56, 168–170.
21 Leslie p8.
22 Leslie p9.
23 K. Clark 1960 p117.
24 Ivy p23.
25 See Sense and Sensibility pp83–5: ‘Everybody pretends to feel …’
26 Whitley 1930 p35.
8. All but the Clouds
1 Gadney p34.
2 Farington XVI p5487.
3 Ivy p84.
4 Farington XVI pp5532-3.
5 Discourses p6.
6 Cobbett 31 August 1826 pp61, 84.
7 CIV p310.
8 Farington XVI pp5582–3.
9 C:FDC p52.
10 Farington XVI p5645.
11 Ivy pp88–91.
12 Whitley 1930 p9; Ivy p93.
13 C:FDC p87.
9. Skying
1 Gilpin p34.
2 C. Leslie 1860 I p183.
3 K. Clark 1976 p59.
4 Leslie p112.
5 Badt p49; Constable’s Clouds, pp42, 136, 154; Hamblyn, p228; Constable’s Skies, p47.
6 Badt pp47–8; Constable’s Clouds, p167.
7 Constable’s Clouds pp76, 81, 87, 140, 154; Hamblyn p223.
10. At the Summit of Earthly Ambitions
1 CIV pp246–7.
2 CIV p218; London Encyclopedia; Survey of London XXI; Frith 1957 pp31–3.
3 Whitley 1930 p29; Ivy pp92–5.
4 St John 2005 p7.
5 Whitley 1930 p40.
6 CIV pp288–90.
7 Ivy pp99–100.
8 CVI p116.
9 Owen & Brown p107.
10 Owen & Brown p2.
11 Leslie p132.
12 Owen & Brown pp218, 220.
13 Leslie pp135–6.
14 Leslie p185; Trimmer in Thornbury; see also CV pp66–72 which quotes a memorandum about Constable that Trimmer gave Thornbury, mentioning Maria’s death by consumption.
15 Cockayne & Stow pp112-13; Dickens Nicholas Nickleby ch 6; D. & R. Porter pp198–9, R. & J. Dubos ppviii, 38–39, 69–101; Dormandy pp2, 14–16, 39, 58.
16 Dormandy ppxiv, 14–16.
11. Trying the Sea
1 Tate 1991 pp206-11, 369.
2 Tate 1991 pp284–92.
3 Whitley 1930 pp61–2; Ivy p107.
4 Gadney p66.
5 C:FDC p75.
6 Discovery pp195–200; Reynolds NY 1983 p104.
7 Leslie p145.
8 CIV pp182-3.
9 Ivy p111.
10 Tate 1991 p267; Warrell in Brighton Revealed; Cobbett I p206.
11 Leslie p144.
12 See CII, beginning 19 May 1824.
13 Tate 1991 p274.
14 Tate 1991 pp270–1, 274; Warrell in Brighton Revealed pp19–29.
15 CIV pp183–4, 197–8; C:FDC p330.
16 Whitley 1930 p76; Ivy pp103–11.
12. The Leaping Horse
1 Tate 1976 p142; Tate 1991 pp296, 464–5.
2 Rosenthal 1983 p166.
3 CV p148.
4 Whitley 1930 pp86, 97; Ivy pp111–16.
5 CIV p98.
6 Warrell in Brighton Revealed pp30–1.
7 Sheppard p57.
8 C:FDC pp77–8.
9 Sarah Cove, Constable Trust lecture 28 April 2005.
10 Leslie p170.
11 CIV p404.
12 Whitley 1930 p102.
13 Tate 1991 pp301–2; C:FDC p59.
14 Whitley 1930 pp101–2; Ivy p119.
15 Payne p6; Rosenthal pp110–12; Trevelyan pp220–1, 465.
13. Life Slips
1 CV p128.
2 Cook p8.
3 Cook p10; Colville pp59, 62.
4 Owen & Brown pp2, 87; C. Leslie 1855 p50.
5 Tate 1976 pp148–9; Tate 1991 p31; Ivy pp122–4.
6 Angelo pp203–4; Hazlitt p690; Leslie p175.
7 C:FDC p80.
8 CIV pp71–3.
9 Leslie p182.
10 Ivy pp125–6.
11 Tate 1991 p32.
12 Reynolds Later pp189–90.
14. Darkness Visible
1 Fleming-Williams pp212–19.
2 Reynolds Later p193.
3 Leslie p185.
4 CV p71; Leslie pp184-5.
5 Smith p44.
6 CIV p101; Leslie p185.
7 Leslie p185; Dormandy p221; CI p250; CVI p238.
8 Rhyne notes that CII p450 and CIV p76 have, wrongly, 28 November for the date of Maria’s death.
9 Leslie 1843 cited Beckett CII p450n.
10 Leslie ed. Shirley 1930 p234.
11 C:FDC p81.
12 Tate 1991 p32; Leslie p189.
13 Leslie pp188, 190.
14 Ivy pp132, 138.
15 Hadleigh Castle is 48¼ × 65⅞; Tate 1991 pp312–13; Reynolds Later p199.
16 Leslie p194.
17 Ivy pp133–4.
18 K. Clark 1960 pp112, 114–17.
19 CIV pp227, 317; C:FDC pp168, 228.
20 Fox p202.
21 Tate 1991 p41.
22 F. Redgrave p284.
23 Letter in Osborn Collection, Beineke Library, Yale.
24 C:FDC p80.
25 Haydon p611.
26 Thornbury I p177; Bailey p262.
27 CIV p330.
15. Seven Children
1 CV pp123–5; Leslie p299.
2 Leslie p200; CV p128; J. Young, cited CV, p134.
3 R. Leslie, footnote in his edition of C. Leslie’s Constable, first page of ch V; CV pp145, 153.
4 CV p117.
5 CV pp30, 117, 125–6, 149, 153, 168–70, 191; C:FDC pp87–8.
6 CV pp28, 53, 127, 131, 133, 135.
7 CV p122.
8 CV pp122, 125, 128, 134.
9 CV p129, 134, 142–3, 165.
10 Rhyne p148.
11 CV p140.
12 Tate 1991 p34; CV pp132, 137–8, 149.
13 Reynolds Later p209.
14 Tate 1976 pp159–60; Frith 1887 I pp237–8; Whitley 1930 p189; Reynolds Later p209.
15 F. Redgrave p285.
16. English Landscape
1 CIV p314.
2 CIV p317.
3 Hazlitt p312.
4 Tate 1976 p160; Mr Constable’s English Landscape, 1830 (Henry Bicknell’s and later Paul Mellon’s copy, Yale Center for British Art library); Parris, John Constable and David Lucas.
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5 CIV p344; Wilton p10.
6 Wilton p10; CIV p322.
7 CIV pp327, 339; Wilton pp10–11.
8 CIV p325; Tate 1976 p163; Tate 1991 p35.
9 CIV pp318, 321.
10 CIV p328; Wilton p11; Tate 1976 p160.
11 Tate 1991 pp33–4, 291–2, 316; CIV pp329, 333.
12 Tate 1991 p329; CVI p54.
13 Discourses p12.
14 CIV p414.
15 Leslie p196.
16 Tate 1976 pp161–3, 165; Tate 1991 p336; Cicero Academica II p20, quoted Gombrich.
17 CIV pp378, 381–2.
18 Leslie pp197–8; CIV pp364 et seq, 378, 381–2.
17. Clouds Overhead
1 CIV pp341, 345.
2 CIV p346.
3 Leslie p206.
4 A.P. Oppé in Early Victorian England vol. II 1934 p146.
5 G. Leslie p44.
6 Reynolds Later p231.
7 F. Redgrave pp56–7.
8 Frith 1957 pp195–6.
9 Thomson Summer, lines 1223 et seq.
10 Ivy pp149–52.
11 Leslie p254.
12 Discourses p81; Ipswich Journal 6 Aug 1831.
13 Trevelyan pp507, 482–3.
14 CV p35.
15 CIV p364.
16 P. Leslie plx.
17 C. Leslie 1860 I p116.
18 CIII p69; C. Leslie 1860 I pp202–3.
19 Ivy pp158–63.
20 Tate 1991 pp369–72.
21 CIII p81; CIV p80.
22 Autograph letter to W.H. Ince 11 February 1846 inserted in Grainger’s copy of Leslie Constable, Yale Center of British Art.
23 CIV p216, 220, 222; C:FDC pp22–6.
24 Leslie pp228–30, 237; C:FDC p61 n1.
25 Leslie p230.
18. A Summer’s Morning
1 Tate 1991 p34.
2 CV p142.
3 CV p141.
4 CV pp141–3, 145; re East Hill, Hastings 1833: Fleming-Williams 1990 pp264–5 and Tate 1991 nos 330, 331.
5 CV pp159–60, 166.
6 Leslie p243; Darwin ed. Engel pxv.
7 CV pp159–61, 166–7.
8 Tate 1976 pp171, 174–5.
9 CV p150.
10 CIV p112.
11 CIV p111; CV p155.
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