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Quote by John Constable

“I am anxious that the world should be inclined to look to painters for information about painting. I hope to show that ours is a regularly taught profession; that it is scientific as well as poetic; that imagination alone never did, and never can, produce works that are to stand by a comparison with realities.”

Quote by John Constable

Work

Delphi Collected Works of John Constable (Illustrated)

The Delphi Collected Works of John Constable (Illustrated) is a curated collection that brings together a selection of John Constable's most significant paintings and sketches. It provides a detailed exploration of his contributions to English landscape painting, highlighting his use of light and color to capture the essence of the natural world. The illustrations are accompanied by informative captions that offer insights into the artist's methods and inspirations. This volume is a valuable resource for those interested in the history of art and the works of one of its most influential figures. more

Author

John Constable
John Constable

John Constable was an English landscape painter renowned for his detailed depictions of the English countryside. His works are characterized by their use of natural light and color, showcasing the tranquility and harmony of the English landscape. more

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“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and a natural one is, that the fine arts have risen or declined in proportion as patronage has been given to them or withdrawn, but it will be found that there has often been more money lavished on them in their worst periods than in their best, and that the highest honours have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.”

“He [the artist] ought to have 'these powerful organs of expression' - colour and chiaroscuro - entirely at his command, that he may use them in every possible form, as well as that he may do with the most perfect freedom; therefore, whether he wishes to make the subject of a joyous, solemn, or meditative character, by flinging over it the cheerful aspect which the sun bestows, by a proper disposition of shade, or by the appearances that beautify its arising or its setting, a true "General Effect" should never be lost sight of.”

“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.”

“Poetry operates by raising our curiosity, engaging the mind by degrees to take an interest in the event, keeping that event suspended, and surprising at last with an unexpected catastrophe. The painter's art is more confined, and has nothing that corresponds with, or perhaps is equivalent to, this power and advantage of leading the mind on, till attention is totally engaged. What is done by Painting, must be done at one blow; curiosity has received at once all the satisfaction it can ever have.”