CONSTABLE : impressions of land, sea and sky

Located in the north-west of England, the Lake District is the largest English National Park, covering fells, dales, lakes, villages and towns

I should paint my own places best – Painting is another word for feeling.
I associate my “careless boyhood” to all that lies on the banks of the Stour.
They made me a painter.

John Constable, 23 October 1821

The landscapes that Constable painted were of places where he had lived and where he felt a deep personal bond. They were often closely bound up with his friendships.

Of the places Constable depicted the first in his affection, and the subject of a great proportion his works, was the the area around the Stour Valley in Suffok, including the villages of East Bergholt, Dedham, Langham, Stoke-by-Nayland, and the hamlet of Flatford. It was the district where he was born and spent his childhood and where his family lived. Even in his lifetime it was known as ‘Constable’s country’.

Constable made repeated visits to Salisbury, the home of his closest friend John Fisher, where he painted important images of the cathedral and surrounding countryside.

In an attempt to find a healthy environment for his wife Maria and their young family, Constable rented accommodation at Hampstead, then a small village in fairly rural surroundings on the outskirts of London, and at the seaside town of Brighton.