John Constable: At Fifty-Six

"Study of Trees" by John Constable

"In a note, written in the early part of 1833, John Constable wrote: 'It is time, at fifty-six, to begin, at least, to know one's self - and I do know what I am not...' He then spoke of the qualities at which he chiefly aimed in his pictures: 'light - dews - breezes - blooms - and freshness, not one of which has yet been perfected on the canvas of any painter in the world.'

Constable's technical knowledge of painting probably equaled, if it did not exceed, that of most men of his day. He always had a large store, in the form of powder, chiefly of the various shades of ochres, madders, ultramarine, and the lovely greys known as ultramarine ash. He also to obtain a full liquid touch used what is called fat oil i.e., cold drawn linseed oil, which, after long exposure to light in an open vessel, had become bleached in colour with the thickness and drying qualities of megilp [a gel].

In February 1834 Constable had another and very painful illness, a severe attack of acute rheumatic fever, which lasted for the greater part of two months. In the early part of this period his suffering was very great. All the joints became the seat of the disease two or three times over and the paint and the fever were the most aggravated kind. He was never quite well after this severe illness, and its effects were felt by him and showed themselves in his looks ever afterwards.

His illness disabled him from sending any large work this year to the Academy, where he exhibited drawings only - three in watercolours and a large drawing in lead pencil, 'A Study of Trees Made in the Grounds of Charles Holford, Esq., at Hampstead.'"

To be continued

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