"Painting is but another word for feeling."
Happy Birthday, John Constable! John Constable is one of Olivia's favorite Romantic painters - as she's still traveling across Europe, I hope I'm able to justly pay him homage.
John Constable was born in East Bergholt, England in 1776 to a wealthy merchant's family. His love of art developed at an early age. Claude Lorrain greatly influenced Constable's paintings. Constable's artistic focus centered on the natural English landscape which he idolized since his childhood. His work showcases the beauty and power of nature - perhaps the epitome of the Romantic period.
In October of 1816, Constable married Maria Bicknell (a childhood sweetheart), and they had seven children together. Maria's untimely death from tuberculosis pushed Constable into a remorseful period lasting the remainder of his life - never choosing to remarry and to care for his children alone.
Constable's work was primarily purchased by French patrons, gaining fame throughout Paris. Surprisingly, however, he remained unpopular in England despite his displays at the Royal Academy. At the age of 52, Constable was elected into the Royal Academy and given the title of Visitor at the Royal Academy. His paintings only became popular in England after his death in 1835.
Constable's style was unlike landscape artists of his day. He took a natural landscape and painted it as he saw it - no enhancements. Most of his work was in response to the English Industrial Revolution which destroyed a great amount of farm land. Constable's most famous works are based on the Suffolk countryside. He captured the realistic appearance of flowing water and wind blowing on trees by layering contrasting colors atop each other, known as impasto - a technique completely redefining "depth." His broad and naturalistic brushstroke was frowned upon by the Royal Academy in England, however, his technique was praised and further developed by the French Impressionists. Constable's innovation inspired Théodore Géricault and Delacroix, two acclaimed artists from the French Romantic period. Without a sheer doubt, John Constable remains highly regarded as an artist of great merit and skill.
"There is nothing ugly; I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may, – light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful."