Arts & Culture

"Turner and Constable: The Inhabited Landscape” At The Clark

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Sarah LaDuke

Published February 28, 2019 at 11:33 AM EST

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John Constable (English, 1776–1837), Flailing Turnip Heads, East Bergholt, c. 1812–15. Oil on canvas, 14 x 17 1/2 in. The Clark Art Institute, Gift of the Manton Art Foundation in memory of Sir Edwin and Lady Manton, 2007, 2007.8.25";s:

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Joseph Mallord William Turner (English, 1775–1851), Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand) to Warn Steamboats of Shoal Water, 1840. Oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 48 1/8 in. Clark Art Institute, 1955.37";

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Joseph Mallord William Turner (English, 1775–1851), What You Will!, 1822. Oil on canvas, 19 5/8 x 21 3/8 in. The Clark Art Institute, Gift of the Manton Art Foundation in memory of Sir Edwin and Lady Manton, 2007, 2007.8.107";

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John Constable (English, 1776–1837), Salisbury Cathedral from the River Avon, July 23,1829. Graphite on cream wove paper, 9 1/8 x 13 1/4 in. Clark Art Institute. Gift of the Manton Art Foundation in memory of Sir Edwin and Lady Manton, 2007.8.47";

Artists Joseph Mallord William Turner and John Constable rose to prominence as landscape painters in early nineteenth–century England. Their choices of subjects and the way in which they composed their views, together with innovative brushwork, helped elevate a traditionally overlooked genre.

The Clark’s exhibition “Turner and Constable: The Inhabited Landscape” features more than fifty oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints and will be on view in Williamstown, Massachusetts through March 10. Curator Alexis Goodin leads us on a gallery tour.