Berwick Art Appreciation- Thursday 15 January '26

The Contested Landscape - John Constable & The Rural Idyll

Born 1776, just a year after Turner, Constable did not enjoy the meteoric rise of his great rival, not
becoming a full academician until 1828, the year in which his beloved wife Maria Bicknell died, leaving
him with seven children to support. His so called series of ‘Six-Footers’, specifically the idyllic Haywain,
which won a gold medal at the Paris Salon in 1824, met with approval from none other than Eugene
Delacroix and has always retained its universal popularity. But, just how accurate a reflection of rural life
were his works. Why is there in general so little evidence of human activity, specifically reference the
abject poverty in much of the rural community. With images of his most memorable works, we can perhaps
reveal how as a pioneer, Constable was a radical conservative and an innovative traditionalist, this being as
true of his cultural politics, as it was of his artistic practice.

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