John Constable: Friendship

"Weymouth Bay: Bowleaze Cove and Jordon Hill"
by John Constable

"Though Sir George Beaumont and John Constable agreed, generally, in their opinions of the Old Masters, yet their tastes differed materially on some points of art. A constant communion with pictures, the tints of which are subdued by time, no doubt tends to unfit the eye for the enjoyment of freshness, and Sir George thought Constable too daring in the modes he adopted to obtain this quality, while Constable saw that Sir George often allowed himself to be deceived by the effects of time, of accident, and by the tricks that are played by dealers to give mellowness to pictures. In these matters, each was disposed to set the other right.

Sir George had placed a small landscape by Gaspar Poussin on his easel, close to a picture he was painting, and said, 'Now, if I can match these tints I am sure to be right.' 'But suppose, Sir George,' replied Constable, 'Gaspar could rise from his grave. Do you think he would know his own picture in its present state? Or if he did, should we not find it difficult to persuade him that somebody had not smeared tar or cart-grease over its surface, and then wiped it imperfectly off?'

At another time, Sir George recommended the colour of an old Cremona fiddle for the prevailing tone of everything, and this Constable answered by laying an old fiddle on the green lawn before the house. But however opposite in these respects their opinions were, and although Constable well knew that Sir George did not appreciate his works - the intelligence, the wit, and the fascinating and amiable manners of the Baronet had gained his heart, and a sincere and lasting friendship subsisted between them."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Life and Letters of John Constable, R.A." by Charles Robert Leslie.)