John Constable: Observer of Clouds

Cloud Study by John Constable

Working in his father's wind-mill, dependent on the weather, John Constable watched the skies with interest. As an artist he developed his keen observational skills and over the years painted a remarkable and beautiful series of cloud studies. Early on he described what he saw:

"It may perhaps give some idea of those bright and silvery days in the spring, when at noon large garish clouds, surcharged with hail or sleet, sweep with their broad shadows the fields, woods, and hills; and by their depths enhance the value of the vivid greens and yellows so peculiar to the season. 

The 'natural history,' if the expression may be used, of the skies, which are so particularly marked in the hail squalls at this time of the year, is this: the clouds accumulate in very large masses, and from their loftiness seem to move but slowly: immediately upon these large clouds appear numerous opaque patches, which are only small clouds passing rapidly before them, and consisting of isolated portions detached probably from the larger cloud. These floating much nearer the earth may perhaps fall in with a stronger current of wind, which as well as their comparative lightness, causes them to move with greater rapidity; hence they are called by wind-millers and sailors, 'messengers,' and always portend bad weather. 

They float midway in what may be termed the lanes of the clouds; and from being so situated are almost uniformly in shadow, receiving a reflected light only, from the clear blue sky immediately above them. In passing over the bright parts of the large clouds they appear as darks; but in passing the shadowed parts, they assume a grey, a pale, or a lurid hue.'"

To be continued

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