Born in 1776 in East Anglia near the river Stour; John Constable was destined for his fathers business of milling and grain-shipping. But he was obdurately opposed to this and persuaded his family he should become an artist instead. In the same determined spirit; he wooed Maria Bicknell in the teeth of opposition from her formidable grandfather; and persisted in painting landscapes at a time when history paintings and portraits were the fashion. Sometimes sharp and sarcastic; and often depressed; Constable in fact possessed a warm gift for intimate friendship. This is revealed in his letters to John Dunthorne; village handyman and housepainter; and to his best friend and patron; archdeacon John Fisher; to whom he wrote: I have a kingdom of my own; both fertile and populous - my landscape and my children. In recent times; after a period of relative ignominy; Constables influence on British landscape painting has been re-acknowledged; he has been more widely exhibited and his reputation has been reestablished as one of the masters of his genre. This important and absorbing biography explores his life and work; and highlights the dramatic tension between the two.
#4433302 in eBooks 2012-02-06 2012-02-06File Name: B007A4228M
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