: impressions of land, sea and sky National Gallery of
Australia, Canberra John Constable (1776–1837) was one of the
greatest British landscape painters, renowned for his
landscapes, his ‘pure and unaffected representation of nature’.
The breadth of his vision of the English countryside is evident
in masterpieces such as Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s
Grounds 1822–23, A boat passing a lock 1826 and The Vale of
Dedham 1827–28. Constable’s works – from the smallest pencil
notation or oil sketch to the finished painting – reveal his
deep understanding of nature. His rapid, on-the-spot sketches,
such as Rainstorm over the sea c.1824–28, brought a new vivacity
to the observation of nature, capturing the effervescent
sensations of light and atmosphere. His art became the benchmark
for naturalist painters in Europe in the nineteenth century.
French artists were the first to be stimulated by the innovative
character of his work, which brought a new boldness to the
handling of paint. Constable was a great innov