Home / Quotes / Quote by John Constable

Quote by John Constable

“We must bear in recollection that the sentiment of the picture is that of solemnity, not gaiety & nothing garish, but the contrary - yet it must be bright, clear, alive fresh, and all the front seen.”

Quote by John Constable

Book:John Constable's Correspondence

Work

John Constable's Correspondence

This book offers a glimpse into the personal and professional life of John Constable, showcasing his thoughts, observations, and interactions with fellow artists and acquaintances during his lifetime. more

Author

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

You May Also Like

“I have a rigid self-accountability. You have to work hard.”

Self Hard Hard Work Accountability

Author:Elizabeth Gilbert

“Only think that I am now writing in a room full of Claudes... almost of the summit of my earthly ambitions.”

Thinking Writing Rooms Ambition Summit

Book:Correspondence

Source: Correspondence

“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.”

Should Firsts Hands Together Gains Advantage Variety Conception Display Execution Disadvantages Harshness

Book:Correspondence

Source: Correspondence

“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.”

Made Said Light Eye Wish Born Dark Sky Effects Color Flower Clouds Casts Noble Steadfast Pluck Abode Light Dark Dark Colors

Book:John Constable's Correspondence

Source: John Constable's Correspondence

“Constable himself knew the value of such studies, for he rarely parted with them. He used to say of his studies and pictures that he had no objection to part with the corn, but not with the field that grew it.”

Used Values Study Fields Grew Corn Objections

Author:John Constable

“No man who can do any one thing well will be able to any different thing equally well.”

Men Wells Different Able Can Do One Thing Different Things

Author:John Constable

“My art flatters nobody by imitation, it courts nobody by smoothness, nobody by petitelieness without either fal-de-lal or fiddle-de-dee; how then can I hope to be popular?”

Art Court Imitation Fiddle

Author: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.”

World Should Wells Looks Shows Reality Imagination Information Produce Taught Painting Profession Painter Comparison Poetic Anxious

Book:Delphi Collected Works of John Constable (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Collected Works of John Constable (Illustrated)

“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.”

Source: Delphi Collected Works of John Constable (Illustrated)

“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.”