Hello I'm Mary and I'm the Bernays Curatorial Fellow here at the National Gallery.
Today I'm talking about this landscape, 'The Cornfield', painted by John Constable
in 1826 and I'm asking the question: is this landscape real or imagined?
And what does it tell us about the way the artist created scenes like this?
First, let's look closely at this landscape. What can we see? This painting is packed full
of interesting details which together tell us that this is a rural scene set on a summer's day.
We're looking along a shady tree-lined path where a young shepherd boy has
left his dog and a small flock of sheep to take a drink from a pool.
Further down the lane we see a field of ripening wheat and this is the cornfield of the picture's title.
It is lit by a break in the clouds which allows a beam of sunlight through. The gate to the
field is broken and leans haphazardly against a hedge. In the field we can see one man close
to the gate in his white shirt, black hat and redneck tie and two more working in the distance.
A plow is set near the gateway and, after the wheat has been harvested, this will be used to
till the ground so including it here reminds us of the seasonal working of such a field.
On the other side of the field of wheat a wide river flows through a water meadow.
Beyond that we can glimpse a church tower and the red roofs of a nearby village.
Perhaps this is where the young boy is headed with his sheep.
Above the rolling hills in the far distance the clouds take up a large part of the canvas
and they're drawing together and darkening for some afternoon rain.
This scene is rich with flora and fauna. Trees dominate the left and the right hand side of
the painting and include oaks, a line of elms and a silver birch. Summer plants are included: broad-leaved
butterbur in the wet patches in the foreground, cow parsley, bramble and a scattering of red poppies.
We can also see animals and insects throughout: a donkey and foul stand near the boy,
the sheepdog looks up at a bird as it starts from a nearby tree, the sheep continue along
the lane and at the bottom left of the painting we can just make out a butterfly.
So what do we know about this painting which can help us answer our question of
whether it is real or imagined? First let us consider the artist. John Constable was born
in East Bergholt in Suffolk in 1776. He had a great love for the landscape he grew up in and
produced paintings of Suffolk throughout his life. He famously said "I should paint my own places best".
In 1817 Constable and his wife Maria Bicknell took a holiday in Suffolk which would be the
last time he painted in oils near his home of East Bergholt. He produced a series of canvases
at this time including one study which is now held at Tate Britain which served as the basis
for 'The Cornfield' almost 10 years later and this study in later paintings depict Fen Lane in Suffolk.
This lane was part of the route that Constable took as a boy on his way to school from the
village of East Bergholt in Suffolk to Dedham on the Essex border. So this image is linked to
Constable's everyday routine in childhood and his memories so it may incorporate feelings of
nostalgia. He once wrote to a friend that for him "Painting is but another word for feeling".
Although it depicts a Suffolk scene Constable actually made this painting in his London studio
from January to March of 1826 .Pulling it together from sketches and sources he'd previously made
including the study from 1817. The artist's son Charles Constable would later confirm that
the village and church seen in the distance are invented and were added to create a focal point.
We can infer that other elements of the scene were added such as the plow which is a clear
copy from a study now held in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Constable also
incorporated features that can be found in other works by this artist: the black and white dog and
the boy with the red jacket which create a bright contrast with the surrounding green vegetation.
So although the work appears natural and, indeed, Constable is known as a natural painter that is
not exactly the case. It is constructed or at least a romanticised landscape. In fact, this painting
also reflects Constable's knowledge and interest in the work of European Old Masters. Paintings by
the French artist Claude were very popular in the 18th century and entered many private British art
collections such as that of Constable's mentor Sir George Beaumont. Beaumont owned 'Hagar and the Angel',
'Landscape with Narcissus and Echo' and 'Landscape with Goatherd and Goats' by Claude. He showed
these to Constable who produced a copy of the latter which he admired for its breezy freshness.
These three works by Claude are now in the National Gallery's collection.
Claude's compositions shape the work of 18th and 19th century British artists through the
inclusion of middle and distant landscape, the nature of foliage which create a frame for the
work and the scene of interest in the foreground. In 'The Cornfield', Constable uses all these elements
and includes the rural subject of the young boy drinking from a pond as a focal point to draw
the viewer in. Constable also had great admiration for the work of the Dutch Masters such as Jacob
van Ruisdael and his British predecessor Thomas Gainsborough who was also born in Suffolk. He built
a large print collection which included examples after works by these artists and many others.
The setting of 'The Cornfield' with the wooded lane and the sunlit distant landscape links
to both Ruisdael and Gainsborough. Constable was interested in contemporary knowledge and science
as well, particularly the work of Luke Howard on cloud classification. The artist began to produce
a series of cloud studies from 1821 systematically noting the time of day and weather conditions.
His skies became a focal point of his work and brought character to his paintings.
We should also consider what was happening in Constable's life and career when he painted this
picture. In 1826 when this picture was painted and exhibited Constable was about to turn 50.
He'd become an associate of the Royal Academy in 1819 which was the centre of the British art
world at this time but he did not become a full Royal Academician until 1829.
So when this painting was created in 1826 the artist was still seeking full acceptance
into the art world. The year before, he completed the last of his innovative
six-footer series which included 'The Haywain', also now in the National Gallery's collection.
Through this series he was trying to elevate the genre of landscape by using large-scale canvases.
'The Cornfield' although slightly smaller is still on a large scale.
The artists used palette knives and brushes in his work and wanted to create a range of textures in
his paintings similar to those seen in nature but this texture caused some contemporaries to object
his pictures and describe them as unfinished. Constable was happily married to Maria who sadly
suffered from poor health and would actually die in 1828. Together they had seven children.
In the 1820s they were in some financial difficulty as a family so, in 1826, Constable
had good reason to try to create a painting that would be both popular and sell. Before sending
it to Exhibition he said "I do hope to sell this present picture as it certainly got a little more
eye-salve than I usually condescend to give to them". By this he means the romanticised details like the
boy by the stream, the donkeys, the sheep and the sheepdog. These idealised motifs of rural life.
This painting was shown at the Royal Academy exhibition of 1826 where it was
well received and Constable also sent it to other exhibitions including the Paris Salon of 1827.
Indeed he exhibited it under the title 'Landscape' and later adding 'Noon' so specifying that time.
The painting failed to sell at these exhibitions and remained in his studio
at the time of his death in 1837. So how did this painting come to the National Gallery?
This was actually the first painting by Constable to enter the National Collection shortly after his
death a committee of friends came together in his studio to select a painting by the artist.
They hoped to ensure his legacy by making a work by him permanently accessible to the public at the
National Gallery. 'The Cornfield' was selected as the most representative of the artist and most likely
to appeal to the general taste. It was around this point it became referred to as 'The Cornfield'.
Subscriptions were invited to pay for the work and 113 friends and admirers contributed.
The list of subscribers included notable figures such as the poet
William Wordsworth, the scientist Michael Faraday and the artist Sir William Beechey.
Purchased by this group of subscribers, it was then gifted to the nation. So what do
you think? Can we describe this landscape as real or imagined? Well I think we've seen this is not
a straightforward question nor does it have a straightforward answer. It's a bit of both.
Constable created this view in his London studio, far from Fen Lane, but of a landscape he knew well
and based on a study made in situ. The painting is therefore part observation of a real place
and his own experience of the location and the nature of the area, its part memory of a location
from his childhood, it's partly constructed in response to the traditions of landscape painting
and its invented details serve a purpose to guide our eye around the canvas.
But when we take the time to look closely at a painting like this, alive with activity and with
so much to draw us in, perhaps the only important question is if this landscape feels real to us.
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