Impressive Paintings by John Constable

English Romantic artist John Constable was a famous landscape artist during the Romanticism period. The artist’s most famous paintings depicted an area known as Dedham Vale. Constable was known for his sense of detail and vivid skies, creating landscapes.

The Cornfield is a painting that depicts the road Fen Lane leading from the small town of East Bergholt to the Dedham Village. In the artwork a young shepherd boy is drinking from a small pond. The artist got advice from his friend the botanist Henry Phillips so that the trees and plants in the painting could be depicted as accurately as possible. When Constable was a schoolboy, he walked this lane, being the shortest way from East Bergholt and over the New Fen Bridge across the River Stour to get to his school in Dedham.

Hadleigh Castle, The Mouth of the Thames, Morning After a Stormy Night is the more common name for this artwork. It depicts the ruins of the castle in the southeastern part of Essex, just south of the town of Hadleigh. Constable visited the castle in 1814 and made sketches, then completed this painting about 15 years later.

The Hay Wain is a painting providing a closer look at the River Stour in Constable Country. (pictured above) This depiction of rural like in the wake of the Industrial Revolution and growing urbanization has made it one of the most famous artworks by Constable. The painting depicts three horses pulling a wagon across the river. The cottage seen on the left is the Willy Lott Cottage.

The Lock is another painting that depicts a rural scene on the River Stour. In this artwork a man is trying to open a lock called Dedham Lock to let small boats continue their journey on the river which empties into the North Sea at Harwich.

Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Ground depicts one of the most famous Gothic cathedrals in England. It was commissioned by John Fisher, the Bishop of Salisbury and a close friend of Constable.

Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadow is an impressive painting depicting Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire, Southwest England. Constable finished this artwork in 1831. The artist took a northwesterly view sitting across from the River Nadder. Of interest in the painting is the rainbow stretching above the cathedral and is a clear indication that the artist did not let his faith waver even in dark, distressing times, as indicated by the stormy weather.

Stratford Mill is the second artwork of the six-footers that Constable created at the height of his career. The painting depicts a water-powered paper mill located on an island just outside of the village of Stratford St. Mary. Children can be seen fishing in the River Stour.

The Vale of Dedham is among the many paintings Constable created of the area called Dedham Vale on the Essex-Suffolk border in the eastern part of England. This painting depicts the view from Gun Hill toward Dedham Village. The River Stour flows through the countryside. In this artwork, the paint is thickly applied with touches of white to emphasize the reflection of sunlight.

The White Horse is a landscape painting that was the first of the so-called “six footers,” a series of paintings that were much larger than the one the artist created earlier. This artwork depicts scenes in Dedham Vale near the River Stour, and a white horse can be seen crossing the river in a boat in a small village known as Flatford, Suffolk.

Wivenhoe Park is a landscape painting depicting a large green meadow situated at the eastern edge of Colchester. The artwork was commissioned by Major General Francis Slater-Rebow, who owned the piece of land at the time.