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| Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishops Grounds, John Constable, 1825 |
English painter John Constable was a 19th century landscape painter who worked in the Romantic tradition, which links him with the Hudson River School and its painters. (Actually, it links him with many things, as Romanticism influenced multiple areas of societies across the world.)
Constable visited Salisbury in 1811 and did some sketching, returning for some further work in 1820. He painted “Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishops Grounds” in London from those sketches.
The painting comes in two versions, differing in the appearance of the sky. The one I use here is the later version, requested by his patron because he did not approve of the storm clouds over the cathedral in the original version. I understand that paintings were often changed to suit a patron’s tastes, but this is the only example I know of where the original and the “edited” version are physically different canvases. The original is in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London; this version is on the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Note: Fine Art Tuesday was started by Eaton Rapids Joe in memory of Ol’ Remus, late proprietor of the Woodpile Report. If you’re a blogger and are so moved, please feel free to do your own Fine Art Tuesday post.
