painting

Constable was big in France : Part 2

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This is the painting that we always think of and this was shown for the first time in Paris in 1824

This became the style that the French referred to as a la Constable, rustic cottages,wagons in ponds and open fields and skies.

In the light of his French success, Constable’s continues determination not to travel abroad seems nothing short of bloody-mindedness if not pure rudeness. In spite of all inducements from Arrowsmith, from his friend Fisher, and even despite his gold medal was about to be presented by King Charles X himself he was adamant about refusing to go to France.He was thrilled with the medal which was later presented to him in London by the French ambassador. But he was resolved not to go to France

“I hope not to go to Paris as long as I live” he said. ” I would rather be a poor man here than a rich man abroad”. Well, be careful what you wish for. All of a sudden, as quickly as it came,Constable’s moment of French fame passed. By the end of 1825 he had fallen out with Arrowsmith. When the French market crashed like the British one during the mid-1820s, Arrowmith and another of Constable’s dealers Claude Scroth, went out of business. Constable’s commercial conduit dried up. He had sold more landscapes in a short space of time than had been bought by British buyers in years, but now the HayWain came back and The Cornfield was sent back from the Louvre in 1827 unsold

And there it is. It is in the National Gallery now

Constable hadn’t been the only successful british Painter at the 1824 salon. In fact so many British painters were showing , that it was known as the Salon des Anglais, which was quite a coup for the national contingent. Two others like Constable were awarded medals, and another made a Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur. There seemed to be widespread approval of the so-called “British style” in landscape painting. If only Constable had been more amenable to travel and doing some networking he might well have prolonged his popularity. Delacroix for one was anxious to meet him, but although Delacroix came to London in 1825, and met other painters, there is no record of him meeting with Constable. You can’t imagine Turner squandering an opportunity to make such an important relationship. Quite the contrary, Turner went to a lot of trouble to meet Delacroix in Paris, in either 1829 or 1832. The urbane Frenchman was underimpressed with Turner’s appearance. Constable he described as ‘an admirable man…one of the glories of England’. He recorded Turner as looking’like an English farmerwith his rough black coat and heavy boots, and his cold, hard expression’. Later on though we was to concede that both Turner and Constable were the ‘true reformers’ of landscape painting

So on that note, let’s bring Turner bck into the story. Did Turner also fly the flag for the British School in Paris. No he didn’t.

He was conspicuous by his absence. Despite his enthusiasm for European landscape and despite his frequent travels, and the way he reinforced the preeminece of European culture, he was never represented at the Salon.

He rarely exhibited outside of his own country, only on two occasions and both times probably wished he hadn’t. The first was a solo exhibition in Rome in 1828 when reaction to his work was vitriolic to say the least. There was a cartoon going round which said ‘O Charlatan excrement is not art’ ! The second occasion was in Munich in 1845. Turner was the only British artist showing at an exhibition called ‘Congress of European Art’ Again his painting horrified the locals. The Germans were appalled by the loose handling and lack of form and regrettably interpreted this as a satire upon their country. To add insult to injury the picture was returned to Turner damaged , with additional carriage costs to pay. He was furious and apparently fussed over it ‘like a hen in a a fury’

An interestin paradox then in Turner’s relationship with Europe. Despite his extensive travels and his European outlook, his paintings had limited appeal abroad during his lifetime. It was Constable who was the more prominent of the two. To this day, it remains one of the more unlikely developments in Western art history.

Constable was big in France

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Something I didn’t know until I started reading about him with a view to preparing a talk later this year entitled Turner and Constable. In 1821 when he showed at the Royal Academy and showed The haywain in fact, he was wildly embraced by the French art market, not quite literally although he might have been. he was totally unprepared for all this enthusiasm which he certainly wasn’t used to at home

One of the first to discover him was the French Romanticist Theodor Gericault. He is probably best known for his famous painting The Raft of the Medusa, which he had brought to London, and which we are told thrilled 70,000 Londoners

And this is Gericault’s famous painting, which I will just talk about before talking about Gericault’s reaction to Constable’s work

This painting was based on a real incident which shocked the French nation. The French naval frigate ran aground off the coast of Mauretania on 2 July 1816. At least 150 people were set adrift on a hurriedly constructed raft. Only 15 survived and were picked up. The event fascinated Gericault and he could be said to have hooked into national grief. He undertook extensive research including visiting morgues for the skin colour of the dying and the dead. The painting was shown in the Salon of 1819 and received national approbation. He brought it to London where it thrilled Londoners including one Turner who went back to his studio and reworked his own great work The Shipwreck

Whilst in London Gericault visited the Academy exhibition and there discovered Constable. He thought that The Haywain was the best in the exhibition. Other French visitors thought the same and waxed lyrical.

Much to Constable’s surprise the interest quickly snowballed. A Parisian art dealer called Arrowsmith, French despite his name, offered to buy The Hay Wain and offered a derisory sum. The negotiations broke down but two years later, when Constable was short of money, he agreed to sell the painting to Arrowsmith for £250, as well as other pieces. The paintings caused a stir when they arrived in Paris.

The arrival of the Hay wain in 1824 was like a pebble dropping in a Parisian mill pond. The effect was immediate. At the epi-centre of the quake was another influential figure, Eugene Delacroix, who was so influened by the Hay Wain that he went back to his studio and repainted background on his great work The Massacre at Chios. He was blown away by Constable’s greens and tried to copy them. Critics viewing this picture at the time couldn’t find much evidence of green being used, but there we are.

If Delacroix was talking about the Hay Wain, then others were bound to be listening. A few weeks later it was these two paintings which received the greatest share of the attention at the Academie des Beaux-Arts, known as the Salon. The Salon dominated taste and opinion in France to an even greater extent than the Academy in Britain

Constable was embraced at the Salon in a way that had never happened to him at home. His large paintings were removed to positions of prominence, and Monsieur Constable, Peintre de Paysage was awarded a gold medal of excellence. His friend John Fisher couldn’t resist commenting that plain old Constable, who didn’t speak a word of French, was the talk and admiration of the French. His name entered the language. Landscapes were described as a la Constable!. More French exhibitions followed in Lille including another gold medal, Douai and the Salon again in1827, where there were plenty of landscapes a la Constable, with rustic cottages, wagons in ponds and open fields and skies.

Constable nevertheless refused to visit France, his attitude seemingly bloody-minded bordering on rude.

This is probably a good place to take a break. We are about half way, so a lot of writing and a lot of reading for you guys. It will take another post to complete the subject which I will do soonest

Watts Gallery Exhibition: The Pattle Sisters

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Probably the best known of the Pattle sisters, Julia Margaret Cameron

This is the current exhibition at the Watts Gallery at Compton near Guildford. This is the gallery of the paintings of George Frederick Watts, the famous Victorian painter. He lived nearby at his house called Limnerslease, with his wife Mary. He was a prolific portrait painter. He was also well known for allegorical subjects. His painting called Hope was featured on postage stamps and was also known as Barack Obama’s favourite painting. Likewise he often painted pictures with a social message

His wife Mary, also a painter, gave up painting to support her husband. She founded a pottery workshop in nearby Compton to give employment to local craftsmen. She is also known for building the nearby chapel with designs by her husband, generally regarded as an Art Nouveau masterpiece

This is the painting of the Watts Chapel that I did once, built in brick and shaped like a Greek cross. The interior is beautifully designed in Arts and Crafts style. The bricks were made locally in Mary Watts works

The Pattle sisters were born in India, and became central figures British art and literary society. Born in Calcutta now Kolkata to James Peter Pattle, a civil servant, and Adeline Maria De l’Etang ,they received education in Paris and India.

Known for their beauty, intelligence and independent spirits they navigated complex social landscapes, bridging cultures and influencing Victorian high society and intellectual movements

George Frederick Watts was one of the prominent figures that they were connected with. There were seven sisters in all, and probaly the best known is Julia Margaret Cameron, the famous photographer, who lived on the Isle of wight for many years. Given a camera by her daughter, she became well known for her photographs of famous people, and also for the ability to capture subjects in a very soft light.

Maria Jackson (nee Pattle) was the mother of Julia Stephen who was mother to Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell, thus linking them to the Bloomsbury group

Pattledom was a term coined by Thackeray describing the sister’s powerful social network and bohemian lifestyle, blending Indian heritage with French education and English society

This exhibition is on until May, and well worth a visit if you are within striking distance of Compton

Btw. if you want to see more of my own paintings, they are listed also on my own website davidharmerwatercolour.co.uk. This website is a showcase rather than a shop, but enquiries are nevertheless welcome

Spinnaker Tower Portsmouth at Night

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This must be one of the trickiest commissions that I have ever accepted, and one which questions my wisdom. Firstly working out a colour for night black, and it won’t be black ,has not been easy. Black in large quantities I find tends to flatten the painting, unless it is a raven glossy black which works for many things but not sky imho. Then what colour to use for the illuminated tower itself, and there we have a certain choice of watercolours that have a luminous quality, but which one to use against which night sky that is the question.

This is the client’s photograph btw and is a very good one in terms of composition. So many aren’t and refreshingly I have little or nothing to change other than possibly including the moon, which i have agreed with the client. Perspective is intriguing which I like. All those lines going towards the vanishing point will be fun to work with

I have done various trials and have shared these with the client. For the night sky I looked first at a midnight blue colour, definitely steering away from black per se. To mix a midnight blue I am using indigo with a touch of Payne’s Grey, which is a blue black colour, and is useful. A lot of artists avoid Payne’s Grey but I find it useful at times. in fact that was the other contender for the night sky, as it is not quite black, as I say more of a blue black colour. So that was my submission for the sky. Now for the illuminated tower. The colour needs to be luminous which is not that easy with watercolour. I chose in the end pthalo blue and as an alternative, permanent rose both of which would work. I also glazed pthalo blue over rose just to see what would happen and again the result was workable

The client came back quite quickly. She preferred the indigo version of midnight blue and also the pthalo blue for the tower. I was relieved about that, as both were my preferred option, and in neither case did I lead her in anyway

So I know which direction I am going in, and will proceed with the painting. I will come back about that although probably not too soon

Copenhagen Canal and other paintings

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Back in the summer, we toured the Baltic. At one time we did eight shore excursions in eight days. Even by cruise ship, we found this tiring because of our age, especially my wife who has walking difficulties, so we might not attempt this sort of holiday again. Copenhagen was just one of the stops we made in Denmark

Touring the canal system was fun. i like painting boats and this was just one scene that I snapped for reference. Quite a lot of light and dark in this shot. The sun was very bright especially on the buildings in the background. Deep shadows were cast by the trees, which accentuated the boats. The figures on the canal side were reduced to silhouettes. It took me several glazes to get the water to be an acceptable colour, whilst at the same time still looking transparent. This was more of an exercise about light against dark, than anything else

I have been commissioned to paint this church, the village church of Pyrford in Surrey. Ancient yet still in use as a parish church, it is set in a tranquil spot, and is quite charming. The lady who commissioned it no longer lives in the area. Her parents are buried here, so a meaningful place. I always feel very priviliged being asked to paint places that are so important in people’s lives. I am working on it at the moment and will post the result

This is how the painting turned out. I have put sunshine into the painting as the photograph was taken on a very dull day, so the colours are brighter. The lady who commissioned this painting was very pleased, which is always a relief

I have another commission now, quite different to the last, This one is a wedding venue, which I get asked to do from time to time. This one involves marqees and the newly wed couple strolling in the grounds around a lake, so quite a lot of different things to worry about, Still it’s good to have these commissions coming through as sales from my gallery are poor at the moment. Times are hard everywhere still and doubtless will be for some time

Turner and Constable, two heavyweights

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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.

Painting of Pirbright Church

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I come back to a subject I never tire of painting. The historic church in the parish of Pirbright in Surrey

Dedicated to St Michael and all Angels, the church has saxon foundations and was a site of worship before then. The current church building dates from the c18. The churchyard is notable for its wildlife and also contains the grave of Sir Henry Morton Stanley, the explorer, he who found Livingstone, and said the immortal words “Doctor Livingstone I presume”. He is also well known for the discovery of the sources of the Nile and the Congo rivers The headstone is a huge piece of granite with his African name, Bula Matari 1841-1904 The funeral service was in Westminster Abbey but the interment was here at Pirbright, near his country home at Furze Hill.

This is my photograph of Stanley’s grave with its monolithic headstone

I have painted this church on a couple of occasions over the years. One painting I did in the snow which was well received. I was especially thrilled at the end of last year, for that particular painting to be printed as a greeting card by the church and sent to everyone in the parish, setting out the times of services over the Christmas period. I will see if I still have an image

This was the painting done in the snow. I’m not sure that I don’t prefer it to the one that I have just done. Looser somehow. Also there is something about snow with sunshine that softens the light beautifully. The trees on the left have been removed since I did this painting

Although I don’t actually live in Pirbright, I do get involved through the Pirbright Art Club which i have belonged to for many years. Pirbright like so many villages, has an annual fair and the art club would take a stall. The theme for some years was scarecrows, and ingenious examples were made, very often characters from literature. Do you remember the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales? After the service the Dean of Westminster cartwheeled down the centre aisle, presumably overjoyed. An amazing scarecrow was made and was on display in the church. I painted it. I’ll see if I can find it

I was proud of this painting. I exhibited it locally expecting it to be snapped up. It wasn’t! In the end, I sold it online to a buyer in the north east of England. How strange was that. Afterwards the buyer wrote to me and told me he looks at it every morning and it cheers him up for the day, so it was worth doing just for that.

Gondolas, and other recent paintings

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I’ve been off the air for a while. I had to get a new PC as part of an upgrade, and of course, nothing was where I remembered it. I couldn’t find my way back into my blog, or not at least to the page where I coud write something, and I can’t pretend the seemingly helpful robot was any use to me. Anyhow after a tortuous journey I can now post again

As I have been away for a while I thought I would just do a compendium of more recent paintings, just to catch up, and start with one called Gondolas. Always a favourite subject, and this view with San Giorgio Maggiore in the background I have painted and sold several times. This shot is completely different to any that I have done before

I have also been painting some views of my local village, something I have neglected in the past. This shot I put on the village website and received over 150 hits. I am pleased to say that a gentleman in Canada ,who used to live locally, bought it, Always that extra buzz when a painting makes a long journey

This view just shows some of our shops, so being a village we only have indepemdent shops which is a nice relief to seeing brands all the time. In the background by the trees is the bridge over the canal, which was cut in the late c18. In fact the village grew up around the canal. The name St John’s came from the church which was built here as a Chapel of ease for the villagers

The hub of the village is the coffee shop which was started only about ten years ago and provided a much needed meeting place and alternative to the nearest pub.

I have been getting commissions which is always nice. A more recent one shows a country house hotel called Gravetye Manor, which I have painted before. This is a different view in evening light commissioned by a guest who had a meaningful stay there

This is a mistake but I will leave it there. An old shot of Venice. I will now try and find the shot of Gravetye Manor

Succesful this time. An evening shot with the last of the sun catching the roof tops, so it worked well

There are others but I will leave it there. I am not long back from a trip up the Baltic as far as and including Helsinki so quite a lot to digest. I am going to try and put a post together about that voyage. On the art side, we went to Skagen on the northern most tip of Jutland. Artists in the c19 were attracted there by the wonderful light and their work is just breathtaking

I am going to try and be more regular now that I have got back control, and am grateful for the help I have received

Turner in Surrey Part 2

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Thameside Ferry Crossing

This is a photograph I took myself trying to catch the little ferry crossing from Twickenham over to Ham on the other side. I just missed the ferry but my reason for keeping this picture, is that this must be one of the nearest points on the river from Turner’s house in Twickenham. I dealt with his house a few blogs ago so I won’t repeat that. Turner loved boats, he loved fishing, he loved the river, and he loved picnics with his friends. Was this the sort of spot he came to? We don’t know for sure about him fishing here, but he would have known this location.

I took this picture from the riverside of the grounds of Orleans House Gallery, where we go from time to time. The gallery is what remains of the original Palladian mansion built in the c18. Louis Philippe duc d’Orleans lived here in exile from 1813-1819. Turner met him and they became lifetime friends. Later in 1830 he became king of France, until he was toppled by another revolution, and went into exile in England once more. He died at Claremont in 1850. Turner went to see him in France near the end of his own life in 1845, one of his last visits to Europe, and they talked into the night about ‘Dear Old Twick’

In the background on the hill is the Star and Garter, what used to be a retirement home for disabled service men, and more recently converted into apartments. Nonetheless a powerful landmark, and showing us where Richmond Hill starts. Turner painted the view from there, and I would like to look at one particular painting dated 1819, painted in honour of the Prince Regents birthday

I think that this was an unashamed bid for royal patronage, which was unsuccessful as I believe but nevertheless an interesting painting, which of course looked down on an area which he grew to love. Actually as King George 1V he was able to bestow a seascape on Turner in 1823, but to return to Richmond Hill

I will, if I may quote from Anthony Bailey’s biography, which talks about this painting in some depth. Travel and the proprietorship of Sandycombe Lodge, his country house in Twickenham, had occupied much of his time. His painting output had dropped, and he had no new commissions, so he needed new patronage, or may have felt so. In 1819 he had exhibited this great canvas, kingsize, measuring about six feet by eleven. This was England: Richmond Hill on the Prince Regent’s Birthday. It showed the winding Thames at Twickenham, and Sandycombe hidden in the trees, and on the further bank a game of cricket going on whilst in the foreground a group of partying people which could have been borrowed en masse from Watteau

There were mixed views. Some thought the painting to be unEnglish despite its title. There is a quotation from Bell’s Weekly Messenger (16 May 1819) where the writer admired the painting but qualified his praise.’ The distance, the foreground,the trees,and the figures are all Italian. On Richmond Hill, and on such a day, John Bull with his dame, with the rustic lads and lasses of the village, sporting under the sturdy oak, would have been more characteristic of England’ But this was to request a different nostalgia. Turner had not yet been to Italy and was perhaps looking forward to that country to paint

That is probably enough for writer and reader for now. I am getting some material together for his excursions down the River Wey taking him deeper into Surrey, so we can look at that another time

Turner in Surrey

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In a weak moment, I have allowed myself to be talked into researching the work that JMW Turner carried out in Surrey, and writing a talk on my findings, which I will then have to deliver to my history group at a given date in November. this sounds a long way off. I know from experience that it is not, so i have already started gathering stuff from books and internet. A visit to tate Britain when the weather improves will be necessary but enjoyable. The bulk of his bequest to the nation is there so must be something of use. Also Petworth House where he was a frequent house guest of Lord Egremont. Petworth is not in Surrey as we know but is close enough. What I am realising from the start, is that there is precious little written about Turner’s expeditions into Surrey. he did a number of paintings on these trips but none of them became his best known works and so consequently little written about them. perhaps my view will change as I get further into my searches

To start with a little background, the painting above is his self portrait. The only one he ever did in his lifetime. He was a private person as we know, and gave little of himself away. His birth date is given as 23rd April 1775, but this is disputed, as Turner would give different dates to different people. he had this aversion to people knowing his personal details. He lived with his parents, which was far from being satisfactory, as his mother had a violent temper, and was later incarcerated in Bedlam Hospital. So he as at School in Brentford and later in Margate, and this is where his love of the river started. He loved boats and messing about in boats. They figure in some of his paintings, and they are a frequent mode of travel on his painting expeditions. later he would row sometimes as far as Windsor on the Thames and down the Wey to Guildford, which we will look at later.

let’s start looking at some of his Surrey paintings and start in date order as far as we can

Possibly Box Hill Date….. previously attributed to Tom Girtin, and later to Turner. Girtin was contemporary to Turner, and they were in fact great friends. They would go on expeditions together, and on one of them painted the Savoy palace from a boat on the Thames. Girtin was an acclaimed painter, who sadly died at the age of 29. Turner held him in high esteem and his famous quote said ” if Tom had lived I would have starved”. Turner was definitely in the area that year, as the next painting of Leatherhead shows. This was his so called Student period.

At about the same time, we have this painting of Leatherhead

Leatherhead from the River Mole, with cattle in the foreground, dated 1796, and attributed to Turner. I find this an immature style compared to what we associate with Turner’s work, and it would be as this comes within his student period. Turner had been invited to Norbury Park, near Leatherhead, a place I associate with Fanny Burney who met her future husband there, Comte d’Arblay, an emigre from the French revolution. I wonder if they met Turner. Interesting to conjecture

I will publish so far and go on with this at a later date