DOI chapter:
44. John Constable
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.65784#0269
44. John Constable
Brief an John Fisher (1821)
Hampstead, October 23rd, 1821. My dear Fisher, [...] I am most anxious to get into
my London painting-room, for I do not consider myselfat work without 1 am before
a six-foot canvas. I have done a good deal ofskying. I am determined to conquer all
dijficulties, and that most arduous one among the rest. And now, talking ofskies, it is
amusing to us to see how admirably you fight my battles; you certainly take the best
possible ground for getting yourfriend out of a scrape (the example of the Old
Masters). That landscape painter who does not make his skies a very material pari of
his composition, neglects to avail himself of one of his greatest aids. Sir Joshua
Reynolds, speaking of the landscapes of Titian, of Salvator, and of Claude, says:
»Even their skies seeni to sympathise with their subjects.«I have often been advised
to consider my sky as a white sheet thrown b e hi nd the objects.
Certainly, ifthe sky is obtrusive, as mine are, it is bad; but ifit is evaded, as mine are
not, it is worse; it must and always shall with me make an effectual pari of the
composition. It will be difftcult to name a dass of landscape in which sky is not the
keynote, the Standard ofscale, and the chief organ of sentiment. You may conceive,
then, whata ‘white sheet’would do forme, impressed asl am with these notions, and
they cannot be erroneous. The sky is the source of light in Nature, and govems
everything; even our common observations on the weather ofthe day are altogether
suggested by it. The difficulty ofskies in painting is very great, both as to composition
and execution; because with all their brilliancy, they ought not to come forward, or,
indeed, be hardly thought ofany more than extreme distances are; but this does not
apply to phenomena or Occidental effects ofsky, because they always attractparticu-
larly. 1 may say all this to you, though you do not want to be told that I know very well
what 1 am about, and that my skies have not been neglected, though they have often
failed in execution, no doubt, from an over-anxiety about them, which will alone
destroy that easy appearance which Nature always has in all her movements. [...]
But the sound of water escaping from mill-dams, etc., willows, old rotten planks,
slimy posts, and brickwork -1 love such things. Shakespeare could make everything
poetical. [...] As lang as 1 do paint, 1 shall never cease to paint such places. These
have always been my delight, and I should indeed have been delighted in seeing
whatyou describe, and in your Company - ‘in the Company ofa man to whom Nature
does not spread her volume in vain. 'Still, Ishouldpaint my ownplaces best. Painting
is with me but another wordforfeeling, and I associate my ‘careless boyhood’with all
that lies on the banks ofthe Stour.
(R. B. Beckett, John Constable and the Fishers. The Record of a Friendship, London 1952, S.
81 f.)
267
Brief an John Fisher (1821)
Hampstead, October 23rd, 1821. My dear Fisher, [...] I am most anxious to get into
my London painting-room, for I do not consider myselfat work without 1 am before
a six-foot canvas. I have done a good deal ofskying. I am determined to conquer all
dijficulties, and that most arduous one among the rest. And now, talking ofskies, it is
amusing to us to see how admirably you fight my battles; you certainly take the best
possible ground for getting yourfriend out of a scrape (the example of the Old
Masters). That landscape painter who does not make his skies a very material pari of
his composition, neglects to avail himself of one of his greatest aids. Sir Joshua
Reynolds, speaking of the landscapes of Titian, of Salvator, and of Claude, says:
»Even their skies seeni to sympathise with their subjects.«I have often been advised
to consider my sky as a white sheet thrown b e hi nd the objects.
Certainly, ifthe sky is obtrusive, as mine are, it is bad; but ifit is evaded, as mine are
not, it is worse; it must and always shall with me make an effectual pari of the
composition. It will be difftcult to name a dass of landscape in which sky is not the
keynote, the Standard ofscale, and the chief organ of sentiment. You may conceive,
then, whata ‘white sheet’would do forme, impressed asl am with these notions, and
they cannot be erroneous. The sky is the source of light in Nature, and govems
everything; even our common observations on the weather ofthe day are altogether
suggested by it. The difficulty ofskies in painting is very great, both as to composition
and execution; because with all their brilliancy, they ought not to come forward, or,
indeed, be hardly thought ofany more than extreme distances are; but this does not
apply to phenomena or Occidental effects ofsky, because they always attractparticu-
larly. 1 may say all this to you, though you do not want to be told that I know very well
what 1 am about, and that my skies have not been neglected, though they have often
failed in execution, no doubt, from an over-anxiety about them, which will alone
destroy that easy appearance which Nature always has in all her movements. [...]
But the sound of water escaping from mill-dams, etc., willows, old rotten planks,
slimy posts, and brickwork -1 love such things. Shakespeare could make everything
poetical. [...] As lang as 1 do paint, 1 shall never cease to paint such places. These
have always been my delight, and I should indeed have been delighted in seeing
whatyou describe, and in your Company - ‘in the Company ofa man to whom Nature
does not spread her volume in vain. 'Still, Ishouldpaint my ownplaces best. Painting
is with me but another wordforfeeling, and I associate my ‘careless boyhood’with all
that lies on the banks ofthe Stour.
(R. B. Beckett, John Constable and the Fishers. The Record of a Friendship, London 1952, S.
81 f.)
267