Constable's name is synonymous with the Suffolk countryside where he grew up, lived, and produced his most famous landscapes. Scenes from the Dedham Vale and the area surrounding Flatford Mill, then owned by his uncle, have placed the painter as a key figure in the history of British painting.

Constable chose to paint directly from nature at a time when historical works were considered of greater importance. Late in his career he delivered public lectures on the scientific aspect of landscape painting, the importance of training and the failure of imagination alone to depict reality.

He trained at the Royal Academy schools and first exhibited at the Academy in 1802, becoming an Academician at the age of 52. Here, a rivalry formed between Constable and artist JMW Turner. When Constable exhibited The Opening of Waterloo Bridge (1832) at the Royal Academy, JMW Turner hung his work Helvoetsluys - the City of Utrecht (1832) nearby, and added one dash of red on varnishing day upstaging the high colour of Constable's painting with his deft composition.

Around 1818/9, Constable decided to paint on a larger scale, perhaps to impress at Royal Academy exhibitions or to emulate the scale of classical landscape paintings. His best-known work is one of these "six-footers": The Hay Wain (1820-1), was first exhibited the year it was painted at the Royal Academy and then went on to win the gold medal in the 1824 Paris Salon. It forms part of a series of large-scale paintings depicting scenes on the River Stour in Suffolk. Both this work and Stratford Mill (1821) are held at the National Gallery. Similarly to other works of this size, Constable produced a full-scale study for The Hay Wain (1821) which reveals some of the expressiveness tempered for the final painting.

As well as large-scale oils, Constable also produced many pencil sketches and works in watercolour such as Stonehenge (1836) held at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Lesser-known bodies of work by Constable include paintings on a religious theme and portraiture, but it is for his landscapes, across all mediums, that the artist is applauded.

By Artfinder, licensed under