“It is much to my advantage that several of my pictures should be seen together, as it displays to advantage their varieties of conception and also of execution, and what they gain by the mellowing hand of time which should never be forced or anticipated. Thus my pictures when first coming forth have a comparative harshness which at the time acts to my disadvantage.” ShouldFirstsHandsTogetherGainsAdvantageVarietyConceptionDisplayExecutionDisadvantagesHarshness Book:Correspondence Source: Correspondence
“The first impression and a natural one is, that the fine arts have risen or declined in proportion as patronage has been given to them or withdrawn, but it will be found that there has often been more money lavished on them in their worst periods than in their best, and that the highest honours have frequently been bestowed on artists whose names are scarcely now known.” FirstsHas BeensArtArtistFoundNamesGivenNaturalKnownWorstFinePeriodsHighestImpressionProportionHonourMore MoneyRisenFine ArtsFirst ImpressionPatronage Book:Delphi Collected Works of John Constable (Illustrated) Source: Delphi Collected Works of John Constable (Illustrated)
“When I sit down to make a sketch from nature, the first thing I try to do is to forget that I have ever seen a picture.” TryingFirstsForget Book:John Constable's Skies: A Fusion of Art and Science Source: John Constable's Skies: A Fusion of Art and Science
