Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Art Constable Constable Constable: Weymouth Bay: Difficulty with Landscapes John Constable was born into a wealthy family in the English countryside. It was originally suspected that he would take over his father’s business because his older brother was mentally handicapped. However as his interest in painting grew his mother realized that this was a course he was choosing and he was good enough to pursue. Ironically when Constable turned to landscapes, his mother worried about his finances and urged him to turn to portraiture. In his lifetime Constable rarely sold any paintings despite being inducted into the Royal Academy of Art. Constable has talent, yes, absolutely. I could never capture his landscapes and ‘Weymouth Bay’ is a gorgeous recreation of what Constable saw. It is not an idealized version it is exactly as he saw it. This is where my problem with landscapes begins. I cannot find myself excited by them. It has taken me weeks of procrastination about how to write this paper. ‘Weymouth Bay’ was painted by Constable during his honeymoon in 1816. The scene is Dorset. There is another version of this painting in the Louvre. I think that the painting is easy on the eye. It would have been simpler to write about a Turner because his work in my opinion contains pieces of originality that Constable fails to achieve. His work is straight forward, an almost perfect recreation of exactly what Constable saw. Experts believe that the view in ‘Weymouth Bay’ is from an angle towards the west; west of Redcliff Point. It is a barren picture, the land is empty, cold. If landscape instills feeling of environment, Constable achieves that. When the painting was exhibited at the British Institution in 1819 the New Monthly Magazine wrote that the painting was, “a clear, well-colored picture.” To this description, yay. I do not aspire to be a critic of art and even now as I type this paper, I find myself increasingly nervous to the hail of criticism I’m opening myself up to. However, as I wandered through the halls of the National Gallery the urge to challenge myself and write about something that caught my eye because of the simplicity of it not because it was thought provoking was too much. Simple is not a bad thing. However if all art was simple it would in my opinion cease to be relevant. But would Constable be a relevant painter today? No. ‘Weymouth Bay’ could be captured in an Ansel Adams photograph and probably thought to be more radical and thought provoking because it was an Adams. Not that I’m a fan of Adams or a believer in photography as art. In painting what he saw, Constable became relevant. The painting is aesthetically pleasing. The lone shepard with his flock is a nice touch. As a painting it certainly achieves in capturing the isolation of this particular scene. It does invoke feelings of loneliness and as I stated earlier cold. The coldness to Constable’s approach is also very important. The picture seems to have a rather precise approach to it. Unlike Turner who in his later career seemed to be pursuing an abstract expression to his landscapes, Constable’s paintings seem to be lacking soul. I wonder if his love of Hampstead is a reason for this. Hampstead, where Constable lived most of his life is a very beautiful neighborhood. However, in my visits there(my parents lived there for a year) I feel an almost gorgeous detachment. It’s easy on the eye but rather detached from the world and reality. Constable’s paintings, being recreations strike me as lacking soul. I don’t feel anything for the man in his work. For that matter I think this is the basis for my difficulty with landscapes. I can’t appreciate the artist because I feel I’m seeing something that has little in it that is personal. This is why I’ve struggled with Constable. I cannot take away from his work, his importance and in the end his contribution but I feel his contribution to the world of art, to its effect on me pales in comparison to many of his peers. Most of Constable’s paintings originated as sketches. In his lifetime he remained underappreciated by the public and regularly struggled to sell his work. Constable achieved much. ‘Weymouth Bay’ does hang in the National Gallery. I am writing about him. I did do research on him. I’ve struggled to complete this paper two weeks after it’s due date. I’ve struggled because I’m writing a paper that could conceivably upset someone. However, this has been an assignment that has forced me to ask many questions about art. Is it art if I don’t like it? Is everything we are told by scholars and academe respectively the only way to understand or appreciate art? Landscapes have been included in this course. Constable is an artist and alas I am still a student. I will still grapple with the concept of realistic painting as art. Ironically, throughout all of these various developments, ‘Weymouth Bay’ will still remain in the National. Bibliography: 1.) Micro Gallery, National Gallery 2.) J. Edward Aratow Word Count: 839
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