John Constable 1776 - 1837

John Constable was born in East Bergholt, Suffolk on 11th June 1776; he was the fourth of his parent’s six children. His father’s name was Golding, he was a corn merchant who owned wind and water mills in east Bergholt and nearby Dedham. He also owned a land in in the village and a small ship, which was called “the telegraph”, used in transporting corn to London.

Constable was brought up in a wealthy and happy home, he lived a careless childhood, he was sent off to a boarding school in Lavenham where he spent a brief period and was later moved to a day school in Dedham where he was discovered he had interest in drawing.

His father Golden Constable wasn’t so enthusiastic about his son’s interest, and decided to have him trained as a miller.
John spent a years at his work and never took interest in the family business but, he did acquire a thorough knowledge of its workings.

John Constable’s passion for arts was decisively aroused and stimulated by Sir George Beaumont a painter and art fanatic whom he met in 1795.
After seeing one of the paintings owned by Beaumont,” Hagar and the angel” painted by Claude Lorraine, he was convinced of his vocation to be an artist. Afterwards he began to take lessons from an eccentric character known as Antiquity Smith, who also acted as his guide formally introduced him to the world of professional painting .

In 1799 he was admitted the Royal Academy School, which quite pleased his father since he wasn’t showing interest in the family business, and he blessed him with a meagre allowance.

While in London, John Constable worked hard and was much committed to his studies. He was often spotted during the evenings studying and doing his drawings.
He received letters and food baskets from his family ship which kept him current and in contact with the family back in east Bergholt and spent most of his summer there where he converted a cottage into a studio.

John Constable did some travelling around, in 1801; he made a tour of the Peak District in Derbyshire and made a short sea voyage from London to Kent, and visited the Lake District in1806.

At the age of 33, he had more or less mastered his craft, but had not made a success of his career, he had not been elected as an associate in the academy and is not quite a full member, by this time he could not live independently with his meagre earnings from few portraits and commissions

He met and fell in love with Maria Bicknell who was 12 years older than him, she was the grand-daughter of Dr Rhudde, rector of East Bergholt, a formidable who believed his family was rich.
John announcement to marry Maria was met with disdain and threat from Dr Rhudde. John family supported the union so was the Revd John Fisher, a nephew of the bishop of Salisbury.

Jon Constable was frustrated and isolated in London during all this time, these helped to develop a strong vein of obstinacy in character in his later years. It also sharpened his tendency to suffer from depression and moodiness. He was at various said to be hostile and arrogant in his professional dealings which affected the sales of his paintings, but was generous and affectionate to his family and close friends which made his life rather contradictory.

The year 1815, brought many tragedies to john, his mother died which dealt him a great blow, not long after, Maria’s mother died too. These sad events helped to strengthen their resolve and by February 1816 they made up their mind to get married, defying all opposition.

That May, John’s father died, sitting comfortably in his chair. In his will; he made Abraham one of his sons to take over the family business and john was to get £200 every year, with this and his sales from his paintings he able to get married.
After obtaining wordless agreement from Dr Rhudde, John did something astounding, at the last minute, he delayed the marriage while he worked on his painting, on 2nd. October they were married. None of the Bicknell family attended.
Maria later gave birth to their son in1817, in keppel street, Bloomsbury, which overlooked fields and ponds and also close to the British museum.

Marriage and fatherhood seem to release much creativity into Constable. His paintings and works dominated each spring by through exhibitions and slowly added a growth n his reputation.
John and Maria gave birth to four children before she fell fatally ill with Pulmonary tuberculosis, she went ahead to bear him three more children, by this time Maria has become very weak due to her illness. He father died in march 1828 after the birth of her seventh child leaving her with £20,000 in his will, by that summer in November 23rd. Maria died and was buried in Hampstead.

Constable slowly picked up his professional life after his wife death, he was later elected a full academician the next February, and he undertook various projects, publications and engravings. He painted his last picture in 1835 in Suffolk, which was – the valley farm -, it was said, and the buyer of the painting asked him if the painting was painted for someone in particular, “yes sir” constable told him. “It is painted for a very particular person – the person for whom I have all my life painted”.
He died at night on 31st. March 1837 and was buried beside his wife Maria in Hampstead.
Displayed are some of his works, notably – The Hay Wain.