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John Constable

John Constable Quotes

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Famous John Constable Quotes

“I ought to respect myself for my friends' sake, and my children's. It is time, at fifty-six, to begin, at least, to know oneself, - and I do know what I am not, and your regard for me has at least awakened me to believe in the possibility that I may yet make some impression with my "light" - my "dews" - my "breezes" - my bloom and freshness, - no one of which qualities has yet been perfected on the canvas of any painter in the world.”

KnowsWorldBelieveMayChildrenLightQualityPossibilityOughtSixMy FriendsRegardSakeOneselfImpressionPainterMy ChildrenFiftyCanvasBreezeAwakenedDewFreshnessKnowing Oneself
Author:John Constable
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“I have likewise made many 'skies' and effects - for I wish it could be said of me as Fuselli says of Rembrandt, 'he followed nature in her calmest abodes and could pluck a flower on every hedge - yet he was born to cast a steadfast eye on the bolder phenomena of nature'... We have had noble clouds & effects of light & dark & color.”

MadeSaidLightEyeWishBornDarkSkyEffectsColorFlowerCloudsCastsNobleSteadfastPluckAbodeLight DarkDark Colors
Book:John Constable's Correspondence
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“My picture [A Boat Passing a Lock, 1823-6] is liked at the [Royal] Academy, indeed it forms a decided feature and its light can not be put out. Because it is the light of nature - the Mother of all that is valuable in poetry - painting or anything else... my execution annoys most of them and all the scholastic ones - perhaps the scarifies I make for 'lightness' and 'brightness' is too much but these things are the essence of Landscape.”

LightFormMotherToo MuchPaintingDecidedEssenceValuablePassingPassingsBoatLandscapeFeaturesAnnoyingExecutionLocksCan NotRoyalAcademyBrightnessLightnessScholastics
Author:John Constable
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