Many critics identify John Constable’s painting “Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds” as the picture of typical Romantic British painting, all the way down to the fact that it shows cows grazing and drinking. This work by Constable is highly reflective of the romantic tradition because it idealizes specifically the British countryside and lifestyle, thereof. The influence of this depiction is so strong that it has even affects the way we view Britain today. Constable stirs his audience to idealize the vision of agrarian and rural life; and even now it is hard to imagine a time when this lifestyle was not idealized and valued, despite this same nation being the flagship leader of the industrial revolution and a powerful first world country.
On a grander scale Constable was part of the Romantic movement clearly demonstrated in his peers’ paintings, as well. Many works with similar subject matter and overall look and appeal were produced surrounding and throughout the time period in which Constable was living and working. In my research, One artist, Thomas Gainsborough, stands out alongside Constable as being the greatest representative of the stereotypical British Romantic image.
Therefore, my exhibit will look at Gainsborough and Constable’s paintings as a representative sample of the whole of Romantic artwork. I agree that, while beautiful, Constable and his compatriots’ paintings give an idealized impression of the agrarian and rural aspects of Britain as a whole which causes false pretense those viewing the works must struggle to look beyond in order to attain a clear understanding what Britain looks like today both physically and socio-economically.
John Constable, Landscape with a River, c. 1810-1812
Oil on Canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Cat. 863
Much of the detail in this painting is lost due to the lack of acute brush work present in its composition. It is just clear enough that on lookers are able to make out the quaint scene of a stream with a small bridge leading to a rural village punctuated with trees and greenery all over. This broad almost cumbersome brush work encourages the viewers to fill in the rest of the scene’s detail themselves allowing for an even greater degree of personalization and idealization to the experience that this painting becomes.
John Constable, Branch Hill Pond, Hampstead, c. 1828
Oil on Canvas, The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1972.48
With this painting Constable sets the perspective looking downhill. Consequently, a greater amount of landscape is laid out in front of the viewer allowing them to look down on a nearby village and see multiple comely houses as well as lush greenery, cattle, and, of course, Branch Hill Pond distributed throughout the scene. One cannot help but to notice the vast overcast sky typical of Britain that shares almost exactly half of the subject matter with the earth below. This juxtaposition adds emphasis to the vastness of Constable’s scene here.
Thomas Gainsborough, Pastoral landscape (Rocky Mountain Valley with a Shepherd, Sheep, and Goats), c. 1783
Oil on Canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, M1928-1-9
This piece helps us to begin identifying a recurring trend of including some form of natural water source in these paintings. It shows another stream directly in front of the viewer’s point of view. The paintings triangular structure is highly emphasized in that the large rocks crowned by foliage and greenery reside to either side of the stream, but directly behind the stream in the background is a peak that rises high above any other landscape in the scene penetrating the sky and clouds above. Finally, there are a couple goats and even a shepherd watching over a flock of sheep on either side of the stream to add some form of tangibility to this beautiful setting that lacks any other subject matter of man-made structures or civilization.
Benjamin West, Landscape with a Coaching Party, c. 1791
Oil on Canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1991-182-1
This painting helps us to clearly outline aspects that are definitive of British Romanticism, now. The perspective is set from down below a bridge in a nearly dried up river bed. Present in this basin are, of course, livestock, again sheep. Due to the lack of water in the basin at the moment the bridge stands largely untouched and visible. This has allowed plant life to grow over much of the surface of the structure playing host to a multitude of flowers. Multiple carriages can also be seen traversing the bridge and moving along down the road. A particularly appealing detail that West includes here is what seems to be a family down in the river bed along with the sheep.
Thomas Gainsborough, Landscape with Rustic Lovers, Two Cows, and a Man on a Distant Bridge, c. 1755-1759
Oil on Canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1964-103-1
Much like “Landscape with a Coaching Party” this piece is filled with the golden orange light of a sunset. As stated in the title this painting continues both the motifs of livestock with a couple cows and of water sources with a stream and bridge on which a man stands leaning on the railing surveying the beautiful landscape laid out before him, almost as though to mirror the feelings of the viewer. Additionally, this scene plays host to a young pair of lovers lounging on the slight incline of the hill on the right side of the image. Their inclusion adds the very fitting dynamic of interpersonal romance to this romantic setting of the British landscape.
John Constable, Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds, c. 1825
Oil on Canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 50.145.8
This Painting shows the depiction of the grand cathedral of Salisbury in addition to typically picturesque, romantic landscape. This added subject matter makes for an interesting dynamic within the painting as a whole. The cathedral itself is painted very clearly and exactly, however, the surrounding details of the scene, such as, the trees or nearby grass and foliage are composed of much broader brush strokes than. In addition to the appeal of this work’s sheer beauty, a greater degree of invitation is extended to viewer with the cathedral set a distance away and the path leading to it laid out directly in front of the viewer.
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