I am reading a fascinating book at the moment, written by Nicola Moorby which is helping my research into the talk I am preparing on Turner in Surrey, and so am straying into the life of Constable as well. There are striking similarities although they have different characters. What they share in my opinion, is the distinction of starting off the Modern Art Movement.

I will start with an image of the Haywain, probably the best known of Constable’s work, and as an image is better known than any portrait of the artist himself. the scene is Flatford Mill, where you can go today and paint the same view yourself if you want to. Willy Lotte’s cottage on the left is still there, sadly the haywain itself is not. In my youth, I always thought the cart was being driven across a ford, but later realised in fact that it was the practice to drive carts into shallow water after the wooden wheels had got too dry. the wood would shrink and come away from the iron rim. Every so often the wheels would have to be soaked to expand the wheel back tight onto its rim

He was a master of skies. He studied clouds and became something of a meteorologist. East Anglia where he came from was flat, so almost all his paintings were skyscapes.

But we are talking about Turner and Constable together. Did they ever meet? I know of one recorded meeting, and there may have been many more. In June 1813, Constable sat next to him at an Academy dinner, and wrote to his wife Maria ” I was a good deal entertained by Turner….. he is uncouth, but has a wonderful range of mind”. Uncouth, yes I can imagine Constable saying that. An acerbic character, he was not generous to his fellow artists, quite the reverse. On hanging days, he would walk round criticising other artists work, which wasn’t appreciated. Artists naturally were sensitive and nervous on these occasions as much was riding on the outcome. Constable would sneer at London based artists or “the Londoners” as he called them, especially when they attempted rural scenes. He thought they should stick to what they knew. I don’t think he included Turner in these remarks, nor should he as Turner was well established whilst Constable was just starting to become known. Rather he stood in some awe of Turner, as well he might.

Did they cross swords? There was one recorded incident that I can think of. Constable was taking his turn on the Selection Committee, who decided on where paintings were hung at the Academy Exhibitions. This was an unenviable job calling for great diplomacy and tact, not Constable’s greatest talents. He made an unbelievably bad judgement by moving one of Turner’s paintings and replacing it with one of his own at an event in 1831. Turner was down upon him like a sledgehammer. It was no use Constable pleading that the move was to their mutual advantage. Turner kept at it all evening to the amusement of all, who conidered that Constable had brought his fate upn himself

Coming back to the Haywain, this was first shown in Paris which is not generally known, where it caused a sensation. That is one of the great ironies concerning these two great painters. Constable never left these shores. He didn,t want to, through xenophobia or sheer bloody mindedness, and yet he became big in France without making any effort. A French dealer called Arrowsmith, French despite his name , came to one of the Royal Academy exhibitions and discovered Constable and went into raptures. He organised an exhibition in Paris of Constable’s work which Constable did not attend. Great interest was shown but Constable did not follow this up. he was not one for net working. One cannot imagine Turner squandering an opportunity like this

People wanted to meet Constable, including the great Delacroix, who even came to London, but there is no evidence of a meeting taking place. His paintings were to be shown at the Acadamie des Beaux-Arts known as the Salon, the nearest equivelant to the Royal Academy. It was a great success and Constable sold more paintings in a short space of time than he had sold to British buyers in years. Despite all this, Constable refused to travel stating that ” he would sooner be a poor man at home than a rich man in France” be careful what you wish for. The moment passed and Constable failed to capitalise.

Turner on the other hand, despite all his travels throughout Europe from Copenhagen down to Italy, only sold pictures at home, He held two exhibitions in Europe, one in Germany and one in Italy and both were failures. Perhaps the Italians were too used to the deep landscapes of Poussin and others, and found nothing remarkable in Turner’s work

A great book which I am still reading.