Over the weekend I went to @tate Britain to see the Turner & Constable rivals and originals exhibition.
Despite my interest in art, never before coming to the UK I had heard of the work of Constable. In fact, I am pretty sure it was during an Antiques Roadshow that I noticed it when multiple people showed up with paintings that could be his.
Since, I have seen many of his landscapes but despite this, the exhibition at Tate still managed to surprise me.
In my opinion, Seascape Study with Rain Cloud (pic 1) is the moment in the Constable–Turner @Tate Britain show where everything suddenly felt different, experimental and I dare say contemporary.
Painted in Brighton around 1824–28, while Constable was there for his wife’s health, it looked straight on to a dark wall of rain, choppy water and a few tiny boats in the horizon.
The sky, unlike those that made him famous , is slashed in with fast brush strokes in contrast with the contrasting strong horizontal line in the horizon giving the image a realistic sense of wind and sea spray.
Constable was rather obsessed with the sky. In fact, to him it was a key element to create landscapes that transmitted sentiment.
His cloud studies, several of which can be seen at Tate too, recorded atmospheric phenomena and translated them to emotions in a very skilled manner.
In the case of this painting, the sea and sky tell us a storm is coming towards us, the power of nature is undeniable. The black clouds with the light breaking through feel less like a scenery and more like weather happening in real time.
Another thing that struck me at the exhibition is how much freer Constable’s small studies feel compared with the large, polished showpieces. (See pics)
Side by side, the small studies/prep works could almost be by a different painter: aimed at capturing light, weather and key motifs , they feel experimental, unfinished and more free.
Used to seeing the polished ones, this was a refreshing insight to the process
As always, do visit if you can (Turner will follow)
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