In the last 12 years of his life, John Constable moved away from the meticulous realism and topographical accuracy that had been characteristic of his previous landscapes, in favour of a looser style marked by expressive brushwork and stark contrasts of light and shade. This show at the Royal Academy in London (30 October–13 February 2022) is the first to focus exclusively on this period of his career. It includes major exhibition pictures, spanning The Leaping Horse (1825) – one of Constable’s famous six-foot canal scenes – and the final two large-scale paintings Constable completed, Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1833–36) and Arundel Mill and Castle (1837); the exhibition also explores his work with watercolour and mezzotint, increasingly important mediums in his later years. Find out more from the RA’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here
The Leaping Horse (1825), John Constable. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Limited; © Royal Academy of Art, London
Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1833–36), John Constable. Photo: © National Gallery, London
Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (c. 1829), John Constable. Photo: © Tate
Stonehenge (1835), John Constable. Photo: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London