Constable / Jonathan Clarkson.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 220-221) and index.

Careless boyhood: growing up in East Bergholt --Running after pictures: student life in London --Obscurity: life as a minor artist --The light of nature: oil sketching in the open air --Ambition: six-footers and set-pieces --Beyond Constable country: Salisbury, Hampstead, Brighton --Harlequin: the story of Waterloo Bridge --The face of the world is totally changed to me: bereavement and professional recognition --Rediscovery and reinvention: critics and supporters.

John Constable (1776-1837) exerted a major influence upon the development of landscape painting and Realism in the nineteenth century, while his depictions of the English countryside have become an enduring part of our collective imagination, ensuring his fame both at home and abroad. Among the first artists to consistently exploit the possibilities of painting in the open air, Constable had a passion for the natural world around him, capturing its beauty in oil paintings of unprecedented brilliance---their sparkling vigour in contrast to his nostalgic sense of the rural scene and its inhabitants. Constable's groundbreaking vision exploited contemporary advances in the natural sciences to achieve striking technical innovations, even as it celebrated a local world that was fast disappearing in the face of industrialization and modernity. Jonathan Clarkson's accessible yet inquiring appraisal of Constable's art presents incisive commentary on all his celebrated masterpieces, such as The Hay Wain and The Leaping Horse, alongside a rich selection of lesser known drawings, studies, portraits and oil sketches. Constable's life, work and theories emerge with a fresh clarity in this comprehensive new study.