''Flatford Mill'' is an 1817
landscape painting
Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...
by the British
artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...
John Constable
John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...
. It depicts a view of
Flatford Mill
Flatford Mill is a Grade I listed watermill on the River Stour at Flatford in East Bergholt, Suffolk, England. According to the date-stone the mill was built in 1733, but some of the structure may be earlier. Attached to the mill is a 17th-ce ...
in
East Bergholt
East Bergholt is a village in the Babergh District of Suffolk, England, just north of the Essex border.
The nearest town and railway station is Manningtree, Essex. East Bergholt is north of Colchester and south of Ipswich. Schools include E ...
on the
River Stour. It is also known by the subtitle ''Scene on a Navigable River''.
Although based in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, Constable frequently painted scenes from the area around the village in his native
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
. His later landscape painting ''
The Hay Wain
''The Hay Wain'' – originally titled ''Landscape: Noon'' – is a painting by John Constable, completed in 1821, which depicts a rural scene on the River Stour, Suffolk, River Stour between the English counties of Suffolk and Essex. It hangs ...
'', perhaps Constable's best-known work, was also set by Flatford Mill. Along with his contemporary Turner, Constable was the leading landscape painter of the
Regency era
The Regency era of British history is commonly understood as the years between and 1837, although the official regency for which it is named only spanned the years 1811 to 1820. King George III first suffered debilitating illness in the lat ...
. His frequent depictions of the area where he grew up in rural Suffolk led to it being known as
Constable Country Dedham Vale may refer to
* Dedham Vale National Landscape, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England
* The Vale of Dedham (painting), painting by John Constable
* Dedham Vale (painting), painting by John Constable
John Constab ...
.
It was displayed at the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
's
Summer Exhibition
The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sc ...
at
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadran ...
in 1817. It is considered a forerunner of his later "
six footers". The work is now in the collection of the
Tate Britain
Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...
and is in display adjacent to the rooms featuring the paintings of the
Turner Bequest
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...
.
See also
*
List of paintings by John Constable
This is an incomplete list of the paintings of John Constable ( 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837), an artist of the Romanticism, famous for his rural scenes.
Timeline
* 1776–1809 Early Years
* 1809–1816 Early Maturity
* 1817–1828 Establi ...
References
Bibliography
* Bailey, Anthony. ''John Constable: A Kingdom of his Own''. Random House, 2012.
* Bermingham, Ann. ''Landscape and Ideology: The English Rustic Tradition, 1740-1860''. University of California Press, 1986.
* Charles, Victoria. ''Constable''. Parkstone International, 2015.
* Hamilton, James. ''Constable: A Portrait''. Hachette UK, 2022.
* Venning, Barry. ''Constable''. Parkstone International, 2015.
* Waites, Ian. ''Common Land in English Painting, 1700-1850''. Boydell Press, 2012.
Paintings by John Constable
1817 paintings
Paintings in the Tate galleries
Horses in art
Rivers in art
Suffolk in art
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