edel's corner

constable-walk

The summer of 2003 was hot. And attending a conference in such weather with sitting from morning to evening indoors — no matter how interesting the topics — can make one yearn for the fresh air outdoors. Thus my husband and I took a day's hike through Constable country enjoying the cooler breeze, the untouched landscape and imagining that John Constable had walked the same path, sitting down here or there to put the glittering sunlight onto the canvas.

The river Stour between Dedham and Flatford Mills flows through "Counstable Country". John Constable contested that he knew and loved "every stile and stump and everly lane" around East Bergholt.

A flock of geese on the river Stour. The Stour, which had been turned into a navigable canal beyond the Flatford Mills, carried a lot of trade on broad, flat-bottomed barges from this region rich in corn and pastureland to the London markets.

Constable studied the familiar scenes around him, the different aspects of the sky. His aim was to represent this English countryside as truthfully as he was able.

Constable's paintings followed the long traditon of the Dutch painters of the 17th century producing naturalistic landscapes.

Constable's father was a wealthy merchant, owning the Flatford Mills. Being born into practical realities of country life is always evident in Constable's paintings.

Constable used the river Stour often as a back-drop for his paintings.

Willy Lott's cottage at the Flatford Mills remains much the same as it did when Constable painted it in The Haywain.

Together with Turner, Constable dominated English landscape painting in the 19th century. Their painting styles, however, were vastly different.

Constable paintings at the East Berholt and Constable Country website.

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© 2004 Edel Sturcke