John Constable

John Constable was an English painter who devoted his life to the ordinary countryside of his home region. Born in Suffolk in 1776, the son of a mill owner, he painted the fields, rivers, and skies of the Stour Valley again and again, an area now often called Constable Country. Rather than chase grand or exotic scenery, he found endless interest in hay wains, canals, and passing clouds.

He studied the sky so closely that he made dozens of cloud sketches noting the exact weather and time, and that freshness carried into his finished work. Though he struggled for recognition at home, his loose, light-filled landscapes caused a stir in France and influenced painters there. Today his view of a cart crossing a shallow river, The Hay Wain, is one of the best loved images in British art.