Suffolk - Famous People Suffolk - Famous People Suffolk - Main Page Top Surnames Edward FitzGerald (1809 - 1883) Edward FitzGerald (poet) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Edward FitzGerald Born 31 March 1809 Bredfield House, Bredfield, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom Died 14 June 188... George Orwell (1903 - 1950) On each landing, opposite the lift shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BR... Famous People Connected to Suffolk Image right - Dr. Elizabeth Garret Anderson Those people of note with connections to the county are listed below. Some of these connections are a little tenuous - counties like to lay claim to people of renown! Please add information about people of renown connected to Suffolk, England. If the person has a profile on Geni please add their profile to the project and add the link in bold.

Getting Involved Feel free to follow, request to collaborate To join the project use the request link under "actions" at the top right of the page. Visit See the discussion Project Help: How to add Text to a Project - Starter Kit to get you going! A Dr Elizabeth Garrett Anderson , LSA, MD (9 June 1836 – 17 December 1917) - was a physician and feminist. She was the second of nine children of Newson Garrett, a grain merchant and maltster from Aldeburgh. After studying medicine in London, her name was entered on the medical register and she was the first woman qualified in Britain to do so. In 1897 Dr Garrett Anderson was elected president of the East Anglian branch of the British Medical Association. On 9 November 1908 she was elected mayor of Aldeburgh, the first female mayor in England. She died in 1927 and is buried in Aldeburgh.

B Benjamin Britten - (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) - the composer, conductor, and pianist, Benjamin Britten was born in Lowestoft, to a dentist father and an amateur musician mother. He was educated at Old Buckenham Hall School in Suffolk, and in 1927 he began private lessons in music that would be the beginning of his now world-famous musical career. C Beryl Cook , OBE - (10 September 1926 – 28 May 2008) - born in Surrey, best known for her comical paintings of people. John Constable (1776-1837) English Romantic painter, was born in East Bergholt, a village on the River Stour in Suffolk, to Golding and Ann (Watts) Constable. His father was a wealthy corn merchant, owner of Flatford Mill in East Bergholt and, later, Dedham Mill in Essex. George Crabbe (24 December 1754 – 3 February 1832) - the English poet and artist, was born in Aldeburgh where he first developed his love of poetry.

In 1768 he was apprenticed to a local doctor. The field of medicine taught and interested him little, and in 1771 he changed masters and moved to Woodbridge. There he met his future wife, Sarah Elmy. His first major work, a poem entitled Inebriety, was self-published in 1775. He became most well known for The Village (1783) and The Borough (1810). He was ordained as a priest in 1872. At one time, Crabbe was also an active and notable coleopterist and recorder of beetles, and is credited for taking the first specimen of Calosoma sycophanta L. to be recorded from Suffolk. D Jimmy Doherty (born 1975) - the Suffolk-based farmer and television presenter was born in Ilford, Essex and trained as a farmer in Cumbria. It was here that he met Michaela Furney, his future wife, and the two of them set up The Essex Pig Company utilising free–range meat production practices.

Jimmy went on buy his own farm in Wherstead near Ipswich, which became the base for his BBC TV series, Jimmy's Farm. E F Millicent Fawcett (1847-1929). - the sister of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, was born to a progressive family who supported the education of women. Mrs Fawcett was a suffragist. In contrast to the militant suffragettes, she believed in using law-abiding, non-violent means to gain the vote for women, including petitions, lobbying and spectacular marches. Mrs Fawcett became president of the 'National Union Women’s Suffrage Societies' which was the largest of the suffrage societies and had some 50,000 members by 1913 Sir Clement Freud (24 April 1924 – 15 April 2009) – broadcaster, writer, politician and chef, was born in Berlin grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and the brother of artist Lucian Freud. In his early years, Clement was one of Britain's first celebrity chefs and wrote various newspaper and magazine columns.

Clement died at his home in Walberswick on 15 April 2009, aged 84. His wife, actress Jill Raymond, runs a successful theatre company near to the family home, and his daughter, broadcaster Emma Freud, and her partner, Four Weddings and a Funeral scriptwriter Richard Curtis, own and reside in a country house also Walberswick. G Thomas Gainsborough FRSA (christened 14 May 1727 – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter. He was born the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver in Suffolk, and, in 1740, left home to study art in London with Hubert Gravelot, Francis Hayman, and William Hogarth. Ronald "Carl" Giles (1916 –1995) – often referred to simply as Giles, this Suffolk-born cartoonist was most famous for his work for the British newspaper the Daily Express. A bronze statue of his character "Grandma" to commemorate him is located in Ipswich town centre. Mary Shelley and wrote the world-famous novel, Frankenstein.

On August 30 1797, Mary Wollstonecraft died from complications ten days after the birth of her daughter. H Jimmy Hoseason (1927-2009) - well-known holiday entrepreneurs, grew up in Lowestoft where his father Wally was the harbourmaster. A civil engineer by trade, he took over his father's small boatyard after Wally's death. Hoseasons was founded in 1944 by Wally, who started hiring out boats in Oulton Broad as holiday homes on behalf of their owners during a fuel ban because of the Second World War. Mr Hoseason, who lived in Beccles, died on Saturday 7th November 2009 at age 82. Bob Hoskins - well known and award-winning actor, Bob Hoskins, is famous for playing a great variety of roles in many films for a long time now (his acting career began in the 1960's). He is especially recognised as having played tough, cockney gangsters - but was actually born in Bury St Edmunds in 1942.

His mother was evacuated to Suffolk from London as a result of the heavy bombings, and the Hoskins family left Bury while Bob was just a baby. I L M Angus McBean (1904-1990) – a highly influential photographer thought to have revolutionized portraiture in the 20th century by photographing the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Agatha Christie, Laurence Olivier, Noel Coward, Vivien Leigh, and The Beatles Sir Alfred Munnings - (8 October 1878–17 July 1959) - one of England's finest painters of horses, Alfred Munnings was born in Mendham, Suffolk. N O George Orwell - Born: Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) - English writer who penned works such as Ninteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, and is considered one of the 20th Century's best narrators of English culture. P John Peel – influential DJ and radio presenter, who lived in Suffolk for 33 years, and his gravestone was erected three years after his death.

Peel was Radio 1's longest serving DJ when he died aged 65 in October 2004, famously championing The Undertones' Teenage Kicks on his show. He was quoted as saying he would like the song's line "our teenage dreams so hard to beat" on his tombstone. The DJ is buried in St Andrew's Church, in the village of Great Finborough, Suffolk. Peel's widow, Sheila Ravenscroft, said: "We have put the words on the stone that he would've wanted. I wouldn't dare do anything else!" Q R Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) His first name is often incorrectly given as "Humphrey". English author and landscape designer. Born Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk Margaret Susan Cheshire , Baroness Ryder of Warsaw and Baroness Cheshire, CMG, OBE (3 July 1924 – 2 November 2000), best known as Sue Ryder, was a British volunteer with Special Operations Executive in the Second World War, who afterwards led many charitable organizations, notably the charity named in her honour.

S WG Sebald - (18 May 1944 – 14 December 2001) - Although not a Suffolk resident, the great author WG Sebald focused his second novel, The Rings of Saturn, on an account of his own on a walking tour of East Anglia, including Suffolk. The frist sentence of the novel thus begins: "In August 1992, when the dog days were drawing to an end, I set off to walk the county of Suffolk, in the hope of dispelling the emptiness that takes hold of me whenever I have completed a long stint of work." Claudia Schiffer – German super-model and actress, owns a £5 million Elizabethan mansion, Coldham Hall in Lawshall near Bury St Edmunds. Delia Smith - once celebrity cook, author and TV presenter, Delia Smith is also a Suffolk celebrity for her role as shareholder at Norwich City F.C. Delia resides near Stowmarket with her husband and co-shareholder of Norwich City, Michael Wynn-Jones. Delia has had a varied and successful career, beginning as a behind-the-scenes consultant for Sainsbury's.

She has presented a number of highly popular TV shows and written many well-loved cookery books, each with an aim and focus on teaching basic cookery skills. T Norman Tebbit - outspoken former Conservative MP, a key figure in Margaret Thatcher's government, lives in Bury St Edmunds. His wife Margaret was confined to a wheelchair after the IRA's bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the 1984 Conservative Party conference, where Tebbit was also injured. Twiggy - one of the world’s most famous models, Twiggy, shares a home in Southwold with her actor husband, Leigh Lawson. U V W Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (1490–1530) - historical political figure and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church was born in Ipswich and attended Ipswich School. Wolsey came into great power as King Henry VIII's chief adviser, and held Henry's confidence until the King decided to seek an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn. Wolsey's failure to secure the annulment is widely perceived to have directly caused his downfall and arrest.

In 1529, Wolsey was stripped of his government office and property and accused of treason. Wolsey fell ill and died just before his hearing on 29 November 1530. X-Y-Z 1000+ images about Art: Constable, John 1776-1837 on Pinterest | Fisher, Portrait and Self portraits Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas Art: Constable, John 1776-1837 John Constable, RA was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection. Wikipedia 43 Pins304 Followers John Constable Biography - Infos - Art Market East Bergholt 1776 - London 1837 The painter John Constable was born on June 11, 1776 in East Bergholt, Suffolk. Until 1799 he worked in the shop of his father, Golding Constable, but then entered the Royal Academy in London, where he became a student of Joseph Farington.

He was strongly influenced by Jacob van Ruisdael and Claude Lorrain, before he found his own style of painting, based on the immediate observation of nature. In spite of his studies at the academy, John Constable largely remained self-taught. In 1802 Constable had his first exhibition in London. That same year, he bought a studio in his home town. In 1809 he met his future wife, Maria Bricknell, the daughter of a civil servant. In 1816, one year after his mother's death, Constable married Maria Bricknell, with whom he had 7 children. John Constable was particularly interested in landscape paintings, in which he tried to capture the phenomena and the variability of nature. Initially, John Constable's paintings only seemed to meet with little interest in England. After he had participated in the Paris Salon, however, they became very successful in France. Constable's picture "The Hay Wain", which was shown at the Paris Salon, for example, influenced Delacroix's palette. With an animated brush stroke and spatula, John Constable tried to capture the atmosphere of the moment, thereby anticipating the Impressionists' interpretation of nature.

In 1824 John Constable even received a gold medal from the French king. Among his most important works are "Malvern Hall" (1809) and "The Cornfield" (1826). Constable's series of watercolors are also very famous. John Constable is regarded as the most important English landscape painter of the 19th century, at a par with William Turner. On November 23, 1828, Maria died from tuberculosis at the age of 41. John Constable died unexpectedly in the night of March 31, 1837. V&A Biography of John Constable Hampstead Heath: Branch Hill Pond by John Constable, oil on canvas, 1828, Museum no. FA35(0). © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. John Constable (1776 - 1837) was born at East Bergholt, Suffolk, the fourth child of Golding and Ann Constable. In 1792 he began work in the flourishing family business, trading and transporting corn and coal on and around the River Stour. His ambition, however, was to be a painter.

A local amateur artist, John Dunthorne, offered encouragement and in 1799 Constable finally got permission from his parents to study art at the Royal Academy Schools in London. Although always associated with Suffolk, Constable, like most professional artists of his time, needed a base in London to negotiate with prospective buyers. In 1816 he married Maria Bicknell and the following year he established a home in Bloomsbury. But Constable did not enjoy living in central London, so in 1819 the family moved to the first of a series of houses in Hampstead, which was then outside the city. Constable's biographer, C R Leslie, wrote that the life work of Constable was 'a history of his affections'. Constable himself wrote that painting 'is with me but another word for feeling'. There is no doubt that Constable had a nostalgic attachment to the countryside of his boyhood - the Suffolk villages of East Bergholt, Dedham, Stratford St Mary and Langham - and perhaps especially the views of the River Stour.

In addition, he frequently painted other subjects with personal significance, like Hampstead and Salisbury, where his closest friend John Fisher, nephew of the Bishop of Salisbury, lived. 'Constable at the age of twenty' by Daniel Gardner, oil on canvas, 1796, Museum no. 589-1888 Constable exhibited his first painting at the Royal Academy in 1802, but soon after wrote to his friend John Dunthorne: 'I shall shortly return to Bergholt where I shall make some laborious studies from nature… there is little or nothing in the exhibition worth looking up to - there is room enough for a natural painter'. From the very beginning of his career, Constable's aim was clear: not to copy the work of the old masters (although he admired and learned from their work), but to approach nature itself with a fresh eye and an open mind. He wrote, 'Willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts, and brickwork, I love such things'. Constable's art was quite different to the 'Grand Manner' paintings that were popular at the time. These depicted mythological and biblical subjects set in impossibly idyllic landscapes.

Yet, Constable's paintings are just as much 'idylls', removed as they are from the reality of industrialisation and changing industrial practices. His decision not to follow prevailing artistic norms meant that Constable had little success for many years and was not elected a full Royal Academician until 1829, at the late age of 54 (Turner, his great rival, was elected at 26). He is now recognised as one of the most important artists of the Romantic movement, which emphasised emotion and a sense of the power of nature. Constable himself was deeply religious and viewed landscape as 'God's own work'. Landscape and Double Rainbow by John Constable, oil on canvas, Museum no. 328-1888. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Landscape and Double Rainbow is the artist's first treatment of a theme he seems to have used consciously as a symbol of hope. He painted it during a return visit to his birthplace in Suffolk.

It has been related to lines from Wordsworth's poem The Rainbow: My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began So is it now I am a man So be it when I shall grow old… The child is father of the man… To the Romantics, the rainbow seemed the ultimate image of everything in life that was beautiful but transitory, visible but intangible. Constable himself wrote: 'Nature in all the varied aspects of her beauty exhibits no feature more lovely nor any that awakens a more soothing reflection than the rainbow'. Study of the Trunk of an Elm Tree' by John Constable, oil on canvas, about 1821, Museum no. 786-1888. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The V&A's Constable collection The first director of the V&A, Sir Henry Cole, recorded in his diary on 31 July 1856 that the collector John Sheepshanks had offered his collection to the nation. Sheepshanks's collection comprised 234 paintings, almost all by modern British artists, and included six by Constable, most notably the famous Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds.

However, the V&A's most important Constable acquisitions came from the artist's last surviving child, his daughter Isabel, who had inherited and cherished the main part of the family collection. She wrote that she would present to the museum 'some landscape sketches by J Constable… they can be put in a box quite ready for removal'. There were in fact no less than 390 paintings and drawings, in oil, watercolour, pen and pencil. The Paintings galleries (Rooms 81, 82, 87 and 88) on Level 3 show a selection of works by Constable, including the full-scale study for 'The Hay Wain' and a number of oil sketches. 1000+ images about John Constable, 1776-1837 on Pinterest | Heart of darkness, English and Oil on canvas john constable(1776-1837), plants growing near a wall, c.1820–1830. oil on paper, 30.5 x 24.8 cm.

victoria and albert museum, london, uk See More Constable Biography and Paintings for Sale Constable Paintings for Sale >> The copyright of scripts in this website is owned by Toperfect. Toperfect reserves the manual scripts of original version. Toperfect will take appropriate legal action in the piracy and infringements of copyright. The Importance of Constable John Constable, RA (/ˈkʌnstəbəlˌ ˈkɒn-/; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821, "painting is but another word for feeling". His most famous paintings include Wivenhoe Park of 1816,Dedham Vale of 1802 and The Hay Wain of 1821. Although his paintings are now among the most popular and valuable in British art, Constable was never financially successful.

He did not become a member of the establishment until he was elected to the Royal Academy at the age of 52. His work was embraced in France, where he sold more works than in his native England and inspired the Barbizon school. All of John Constable Paintings for Sale >> Early life John Constable was born in East Bergholt, a village on the River Stour in Suffolk, to Golding and Ann (Watts) Constable. His father was a wealthy corn merchant, owner of Flatford Mill in East Bergholt and, later, Dedham Mill in Essex. Golding Constable owned a small ship, The Telegraph, which he moored at Mistley on the Stour estuary, and used to transport corn to London. He was a cousin of the London tea merchant, Abram Newman. Although Constable was his parents' second son, his older brother was intellectually disabled and John was expected to succeed his father in the business. After a brief period at a boarding school in Lavenham, he was enrolled in a day school in Dedham. Constable worked in the corn business after leaving school, but his younger brother Abram eventually took over the running of the mills.

In his youth, Constable embarked on amateur sketching trips in the surrounding Suffolk and Essex countryside, which was to become the subject of a large proportion of his art. These scenes, in his own words, "made me a painter, and I am grateful"; "the sound of water escaping from mill dams etc., willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts, and brickwork, I love such things." He was introduced to George Beaumont, a collector, who showed him his prized Hagar and the Angel by Claude Lorrain, which inspired Constable. Later, while visiting relatives in Middlesex, he was introduced to the professional artist John Thomas Smith, who advised him on painting but also urged him to remain in his father's business rather than take up art professionally. In 1799, Constable persuaded his father to let him pursue a career in art, and Golding granted him a small allowance. Entering the Royal Academy Schools as a probationer, he attended life classes and anatomical dissections, and studied and copied old masters.

Among works that particularly inspired him during this period were paintings by Thomas Gainsborough, Claude Lorrain, Peter Paul Rubens, Annibale Carracci and Jacob van Ruisdael. He also read widely among poetry and sermons, and later proved a notably articulate artist. By 1803, he was exhibiting paintings at the Royal Academy. Personal life From 1809, his childhood friendship with Maria Elizabeth Bicknell developed into a deep, mutual love. Their marriage in 1816 when Constable was 40 was opposed by Maria's grandfather, Dr Rhudde, rector of East Bergholt. He considered the Constables his social inferiors and threatened Maria with disinheritance. Maria's father, Charles Bicknell, solicitor to King George IV and the Admiralty, was reluctant to see Maria throw away her inheritance. Maria pointed out to John that a penniless marriage would detract from any chances he had of making a career in painting. Golding and Ann Constable, while approving the match, held out no prospect of supporting the marriage until Constable was financially secure. After they died in quick succession, Constable inherited a fifth share in the family business.

John and Maria's marriage in October 1816 at St Martin-in-the-Fields (with Fisher officiating) was followed by time at Fisher's vicarage and a honeymoon tour of the south coast. The sea at Weymouth and Brighton stimulated Constable to develop new techniques of brilliant colour and vivacious brushwork. At the same time, a greater emotional range began to be expressed in his art. In his lifetime, Constable sold only 20 paintings in England, but in France he sold more than 20 in just a few years. Despite this, he refused all invitations to travel internationally to promote his work, writing to Francis Darby: "I would rather be a poor man [in England] than a rich man abroad." In 1825, perhaps due partly to the worry of his wife's ill-health, the uncongeniality of living in Brighton ("Piccadilly by the Seaside"), and the pressure of numerous outstanding commissions, he quarrelled with Arrowsmith and lost his French outlet.

Death In 1835, his last lecture to students of the Royal Academy, in which he praised Raphael and called the Academy the "cradle of British art", was "cheered most heartily". He died on the night of 31 March 1837, apparently from heart failure, and was buried with Maria in the graveyard of St John-at-Hampstead, Hampstead. (His children John Charles Constable and Charles Golding Constable are also buried in this family tomb.) -- wikipedia Constable's Paintings --by Constable, John, 1776-1837; Linton, James Dromgole, Sir, 1840-1916 OHN CONSTABLE was born on June nth, 1776, at East Bergholt, in Suffolk, a district that remained the chief inspiration of his work throughout the whole of his life. He was a weak child, and his career at school was far from brilliant. His father, a miller with a large trade, desired that his son should enter one of the professions, the Church for preference.

But the lad had made up his mind to become a painter, an occupation his father at first refused to allow him to follow\ As time passed on it became obvious that Constable had no vocation for the Church, and he entered the family business. Here he remained until about the year 1795, seeking every opportunity to practise the art of painting. He had for company a friendly enthusiast, John Dunthorne, the village plumber and glazier. In the daytime they sketched from nature ; at night they copied engravings after Raphael and Claude, or watercolours by Girtin. Constable received much encouragement from Sir George Beaumont, a capable amateur landscape painter who had a great veneration for the old masters, and was in the habit of carrying a favourite canvas by Claude (No. 61 in the National Gallery, London) wherever he travelled. Struck by Constable's promise, the baronet interested himself in the boy's desire to become an artist. At length the elder Constable consented that his son should settle in London and become definitely a student.

In 1799 John Constable entered the schools of the Ro}^al Academy, and, receiving an allowance from his father and the proceeds of an occasional sale, he seems to have lived without any great hardship. But, whilst working in the metropolis, he was constantly looking forward to forthcoming visits to Suffolk. He was never a Londoner in spirit. Years after (in 182 1) he wrote: — "The Londoners, with all their ingenuity as artists, know nothing of the feelings of a country life, the essence of landscape." In 1799 he wrote to his old friend John Dunthorne : — "This fine weather almost makes me melancholy ; it recalls so forcibly every scene we have visited and drawn together. I even love every stile and stump, and every lane in the village, so deep rooted are early impressions." Like many lovers of nature, Constable was somewhat of a recluse, and disliked society. He possessed several good friends, however. Sir George Beaumont has already been mentioned. Many years after, Constable visited Beaumont at Cole-Orton, and his letters contain several interesting references to his doings.

From them Leslie in his "Life" compiles the following stories. 'Though Sir George Beaumont and Constable agreed, generally, in their opinions of the old masters, yet their tastes differed materially on some points of art, and their discourse never languished for want of "an animated no." A constant communion with pictures, the tints of which are subdued by time, no doubt tends to unfit the eye for the enjoyment of freshness ; and Sir George thought Constable too daring in the modes he adopted to obtain this quality ; while Constable saw that Sir George often allowed himself to be deceived by the effects of time, of accident, and by the tricks that are, far oftener than is generally supposed, played by dealers, to give mellowness to pictures ; and, in these matters, each was disposed to set the other right. Sir George had placed a small landscape by Gaspar Poussin on his easel, close to a picture he was painting, and said, "Now, if I can match these tints I am sure to be right." " But suppose, Sir George," replied Constable, " Gaspar could rise from his grave, do you think he would know his own picture in its present state ?

or if he did, should we not find it difficult to persuade him that somebody had not smeared tar or cart grease over its surface, and then wiped it imperfectly off?" At another time, Sir George recommended the colour of an old Cremona fiddle for the prevailing colour of every thing, and this Constable answered by laying an old fiddle on the green lawn before the house. Again, Sir George, who seemed to consider the autumnal tints necessary, at least to some part of a landscape, said, " Do you not find it very difficult to determine where to place your brown tree?" And the reply was, " Not in the least, for I never put such a thing into a picture." ' Before 1 8 1 1 Constable had been fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of the Rev. John Fisher (after Archdeacon, and chaplain to the Bishop of Salisbury), which ultimately ripened into a fast and lasting friendship. The painter owed much to the warm encourage ment and help which Archdeacon Fisher never failed to give. Another event had a marked influence upon Constable's future.

He fell in love with Maria Bicknell, daughter of the solicitor to the Admiralty, and grand-daughter of the rector of Bergholt. The courtship was a long one, for Dr. Rudde, the rector, resolutely set his face against the engagement. The marriage did not take place until October, 1816. Constable exhibited at the Royal Academy for the first time in [802, and in 18 19 was elected an Associate. Although his position as an artist was then assured,Constable paintings fetched comparatively small prices, and his art lacked the appreciation it deserved. The year 1824 was the most eventful of his life. Three of his pictures were exhibited in Paris, where they made a remarkable sensation amongst the French artists. From Charles X. Constable received a gold medal as a reward and acknowledgment of the great artistic merit of Constableworks. When exhibited at the town of Lille they received a second medal. These honours increased the fame of Constable, but they do not seem to have had much effect upon his financial prosperity.

The most celebrated of the canvases is the Hay-Wain, now in the National Gallery, having been bequeathed to that institution by the late Mr. Vaughan. In 1829 Constable was elected a full member of the Royal Academy, and this marked the culmination of his career. Before his election Constable moved his family from London to Hampstead. The heath of this village so charmed him that, next to the county in which he was born, Hampstead Heath from that time supplied him with most of his subjects. Hampstead, Bergholt, and Salisbury were the main sources of his inspiration. Early in his career he made a sketching tour through Cumberland, but the north country was not sympathetic (he told Leslie that the solitude of the mountains oppressed his spirits), and he never produced any important pictures based upon the results of his studies in that region. In 1830 Con stable commenced to publish a set of mezzotint engravings from Constable paintings and studies, admirably reproduced in that process by David Lucas. Towards the end of his life he delivered a series of lectures upon Landscape Art, containing the results of his experience, observation, and practice.

From these lectures students can gather many truths and much knowledge. Constable died very suddenly on April ist, 1837, and was buried in the churchyard of Hampstead. His life was not a long one, but it was uniformly peaceful. He had many disappointments, and one great sorrow. At the same time he had compensations which do not fall to the lot of all men. He loved his family ; he was loved by his friends. Above all he was supremely happy in the practice of his art. "It is a great happiness," says Bacon, "when men's professions and their inclinations accord." Constable had discovered this truth himself, for the quotation is the closing sentence in the last lecture he delivered upon the art he adorned so brilliantly.

-- wikipedia John Constable, RA (1776 - 1837) - Genealogy John Constable, RA Share your family tree and photos with the people you know and love Build your family tree online Share photos and videos in London, Greater London, UK Immediate Family: June 11 1776 - East Bergholt, Suffolk, England, UK Death: June 11 1776 - East Bergholt, Suffolk, England, UK Death: Mar 31 1837 - London, Greater London, UK Parents: Golding Constable, Ann Constable (born Watts) Wife: Maria Elizabeth Constable (born Bicknell) Children: William Constable, Ann Constable (born Finnis) Wife: William Constable, Ann Constable (geb.

Finnis) Siblings: Phineas Constable, Phoebe Constable, William Constable, Thomas Constable, Richard Constable Wife: William Constable, Ann Constable (born Finnis) Siblings: Mary Constable, Thomas Constable, James Constable, Phoebe Jull (born Constable) Wife: May 31 1776 - Swingfield, Kent, England Parents: William Constable, Ann Constable (born Finnis) Siblings: June 11 1776 - East Bergholt, Suffolk, England Death: Mar 31 1837 - Hampstead, London, Middlesex, England Parents: Golding Constable, Ann Constable (born Watts) Siblings: Ann Constable, Martha Constable, Golding Constable, Mary Constable, Abram Constable Wife: June 11 1776 - East Bergholt, Suffolk, England, UK Death: Mar 31 1837 - Hampstead, London, England Parents: Golding Constable, Ann Constable (born Watts) Siblings: June 11 1776 - East Bergholt,Suffolk Death:

 June 11 1776 - East Bergholt Death: Golding Constable, Ann Constable (born Watts) Siblings: Ann Constable, Martha Constable, Golding Constable, Mary Constable, Abram Constable Wife: Maria Elizabeth Constable (born Bicknell) Children: John Constable (/ˈkʌnstəbəlˌ ˈkɒn-/;[2] 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English Romantic painter.

Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821, "painting is but another word for feeling".[3] His most famous paintings include Dedham Vale of 1802 and The Hay Wain of 1821. Although his paintings are now among the most popular and valuable in British art, Constable was never financially successful. He did not become a member of the establishment until he was elected to the Royal Academy at the age of 52. His painting was embraced in France, where he sold more works than in his native England and inspired the Barbizon school. Early career John Constable was born in East Bergholt, a village on the River Stour in Suffolk, to Golding and Ann (Watts) Constable. His father was a wealthy corn merchant, owner of Flatford Mill in East Bergholt and, later, Dedham Mill in Essex.

Golding Constable owned a small ship, The Telegraph, which he moored at Mistley on the Stour estuary, and used to transport corn to London. He was a cousin of the London tea merchant, Abram Newman. Although Constable was his parents' second son, his older brother was mentally handicapped and John was expected to succeed his father in the business. After a brief period at a boarding school in Lavenham, he was enrolled in a day school in Dedham. Constable worked in the corn business after leaving school, but his younger brother Abram eventually took over the running of the mills. In his youth, Constable embarked on amateur sketching trips in the surrounding Suffolk and Essex countryside, which was to become the subject of a large proportion of his art. These scenes, in his own words, "made me a painter, and I am grateful"; "the sound of water escaping from mill dams etc., willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts, and brickwork, I love such things."[4] He was introduced to George Beaumont, a collector, who showed him his prized Hagar and the Angel by Claude Lorrain, which inspired Constable.

Later, while visiting relatives in Middlesex, he was introduced to the professional artist John Thomas Smith, who advised him on painting but also urged him to remain in his father's business rather than take up art professionally. In 1799, Constable persuaded his father to let him pursue a career in art, and Golding granted him a small allowance. Entering the Royal Academy Schools as a probationer, he attended life classes and anatomical dissections, and studied and copied old masters. Among works that particularly inspired him during this period were paintings by Thomas Gainsborough, Claude Lorrain, Peter Paul Rubens, Annibale Carracci and Jacob van Ruisdael. He also read widely among poetry and sermons, and later proved a notably articulate artist. By 1803, he was exhibiting paintings at the Royal Academy. In 1802 he refused the position of drawing master at Great Marlow Military College, a move which Benjamin West (then master of the RA) counselled would mean the end of his career.

In that year, Constable wrote a letter to John Dunthorne in which he spelled out his determination to become a professional landscape painter: “ For the last two years I have been running after pictures, and seeking the truth at second hand... I have not endeavoured to represent nature with the same elevation of mind with which I set out, but have rather tried to make my performances look like the work of other men...There is room enough for a natural painter. The great vice of the present day is bravura, an attempt to do something beyond the truth.[5] ” His early style has many qualities associated with his mature work, including a freshness of light, colour and touch, and reveals the compositional influence of the old masters he had studied, notably of Claude Lorrain.[6] Constable's usual subjects, scenes of ordinary daily life, were unfashionable in an age that looked for more romantic visions of wild landscapes and ruins. He made occasional trips further afield.

In 1803 he spent almost a month aboard the East Indiaman ship Coutts as it visited south-east ports, and in 1806 he undertook a two-month tour of the Lake District.[7] He told his friend and biographer, Charles Leslie, that the solitude of the mountains oppressed his spirits, and Leslie wrote: His nature was peculiarly social and could not feel satisfied with scenery, however grand in itself, that did not abound in human associations. He required villages, churches, farmhouses and cottages.[8] ” To make ends meet, Constable took up portraiture, which he found dull, though he executed many fine portraits. He also painted occasional religious pictures but, according to John Walker, "Constable's incapacity as a religious painter cannot be overstated."[9] Constable adopted a routine of spending winter in London and painting at East Bergholt in summer. In 1811 he first visited John Fisher and his family in Salisbury, a city whose cathedral and surrounding landscape were to inspire some of his greatest paintings.

Marriage and maturity Maria Bicknell, painted by Constable in 1816From 1809, his childhood friendship with Maria Bicknell developed into a deep, mutual love. Their marriage in 1816 when Constable was 40 was opposed by Maria's grandfather, Dr Rhudde, rector of East Bergholt. He considered the Constables his social inferiors and threatened Maria with disinheritance. Maria's father, Charles Bicknell, a solicitor, was reluctant to see Maria throw away her inheritance. Maria pointed out to John that a penniless marriage would detract from any chances he had of making a career in painting. Golding and Ann Constable, while approving the match, held out no prospect of supporting the marriage until Constable was financially secure. After they died in quick succession, Constable inherited a fifth share in the family business. John and Maria's marriage in October 1816 at St Martin-in-the-Fields (with Fisher officiating) was followed by time at Fisher's vicarage and a honeymoon tour of the south coast. The sea at Weymouth and Brighton stimulated Constable to develop new techniques of brilliant colour and vivacious brushwork.

At the same time, a greater emotional range began to be expressed in his art.[10] Although he had scraped an income from painting, it was not until 1819 that Constable sold his first important canvas, The White Horse, which led to a series of "six footers", as he called his large-scale paintings. That year he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy. In 1821 he showed The Hay Wain (a view from Flatford Mill) at the Academy's exhibition. Théodore Géricault saw it on a visit to London and praised Constable in Paris, where a dealer, John Arrowsmith, bought four paintings, including The Hay Wain. It was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1824, winning a gold medal.

Of Constable's colour, Delacroix wrote in his journal: "What he says here about the green of his meadows can be applied to every tone".[11] Delacroix repainted the background of his 1824 Massacre de Scio after seeing the Constables at Arrowsmith's Gallery, which he said had done him a great deal of good.[12] In his lifetime, Constable sold only 20 paintings in England, but in France he sold more than 20 in just a few years. Despite this, he refused all invitations to travel internationally to promote his work, writing to Francis Darby: "I would rather be a poor man [in England] than a rich man abroad."[9] In 1825, perhaps due partly to the worry of his wife's ill-health, the uncongeniality of living in Brighton ("Piccadilly by the Seaside"[13]), and the pressure of numerous outstanding commissions, he quarrelled with Arrowsmith and lost his French outlet. After the birth of their seventh child in January 1828, Maria fell ill and died of tuberculosis on November 23. at the age of 41.

Intensely saddened, Constable wrote to his brother Golding, "hourly do I feel the loss of my departed Angel—God only knows how my children will be brought up...the face of the World is totally changed to me".[14] Thereafter, he dressed in black and was, according to Leslie, "a prey to melancholy and anxious thoughts". He cared for his seven children alone for the rest of his life. )Shortly before Maria died, her father had died, leaving her £20,000. Constable speculated disastrously with the money, paying for the engraving of several mezzotints of some of his landscapes in preparation for a publication. He was hesitant and indecisive, nearly fell out with his engraver, and when the folios were published, could not interest enough subscribers. Constable collaborated closely with the talented mezzotinter David Lucas on 40 prints after his landscapes, one of which went through 13 proof stages, corrected by Constable in pencil and paint.

Constable said, "Lucas showed me to the public without my faults", but the venture was not a financial success.[15] He was elected to the Royal Academy in February 1829, at the age of 52. In 1831 he was appointed Visitor at the Royal Academy, where he seems to have been popular with the students. The Constable tombHe began to deliver public lectures on the history of landscape painting, which were attended by distinguished audiences. In a series of lectures at the Royal Institution, Constable proposed a three-fold thesis: firstly, landscape painting is scientific as well as poetic; secondly, the imagination cannot alone produce art to bear comparison with reality; and thirdly, no great painter was ever self-taught. He also spoke against the new Gothic Revival movement, which he considered mere "imitation".

In 1835, his last lecture to students of the Royal Academy, in which he praised Raphael and called the Academy the "cradle of British art", was "cheered most heartily".[16] He died on the night of the 31st March, apparently from heart failure, and was buried with Maria in the graveyard of St John-at-Hampstead, Hampstead. (His children John Charles Constable and Charles Golding Constable are also buried in this family tomb.) Art The Cornfield (1826)Constable quietly rebelled against the artistic culture that taught artists to use their imagination to compose their pictures rather than nature itself. He told Leslie, "When I sit down to make a sketch from nature, the first thing I try to do is to forget that I have ever seen a picture".[17] Although Constable produced paintings throughout his life for the "finished" picture market of patrons and R.A. exhibitions, constant refreshment in the form of on-the-spot studies was essential to his working method. He was never satisfied with following a formula.

"The world is wide", he wrote, "no two days are alike, nor even two hours; neither were there ever two leaves of a tree alike since the creation of all the world; and the genuine productions of art, like those of nature, are all distinct from each other."[18] Constable painted many full-scale preliminary sketches of his landscapes in order to test the composition in advance of finished pictures. These large sketches, with their free and vigorous brushwork, were revolutionary at the time, and they continue to interest artists, scholars and the general public. The oil sketches of The Leaping Horse and The Hay Wain, for example, convey a vigour and expressiveness missing from Constable's finished paintings of the same subjects. Possibly more than any other aspect of Constable's work, the oil sketches reveal him in retrospect to have been an avant-garde painter, one who demonstrated that landscape painting could be taken in a totally new direction.

Constable's watercolours were also remarkably free for their time: the almost mystical Stonehenge, 1835, with its double rainbow, is often considered to be one of the greatest watercolours ever painted.[18] When he exhibited it in 1836, Constable appended a text to the title: "The mysterious monument of Stonehenge, standing remote on a bare and boundless heath, as much unconnected with the events of past ages as it is with the uses of the present, carries you back beyond all historical records into the obscurity of a totally unknown period."[19] Seascape Study with Rain Cloud (c.1824)In addition to the full-scale oil sketches, Constable completed numerous observational studies of landscapes and clouds, determined to become more scientific in his recording of atmospheric conditions.

The power of his physical effects was sometimes apparent even in the full-scale paintings which he exhibited in London; The Chain Pier, 1827, for example, prompted a critic to write: "the atmosphere possesses a characteristic humidity about it, that almost imparts the wish for an umbrella".[3] The sketches themselves were the first ever done in oils directly from the subject in the open air. To convey the effects of light and movement, Constable used broken brushstrokes, often in small touches, which he scumbled over lighter passages, creating an impression of sparkling light enveloping the entire landscape. One of the most expressionistic and powerful of all his studies is Seascape Study with Rain Cloud, painted about 1824 at Brighton, which captures with slashing dark brushstrokes the immediacy of an exploding cumulus shower at sea.[13] Constable also became interested in painting rainbow effects, for example in Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, 1831, and in Cottage at East Bergholt, 1833.

To the sky studies he added notes, often on the back of the sketches, of the prevailing weather conditions, direction of light, and time of day, believing that the sky was "the key note, the standard of scale, and the chief organ of sentiment" in a landscape painting.[20] In this habit he is known to have been influenced by the pioneering work of the meteorologist Luke Howard on the classification of clouds; Constable's annotations of his own copy of Researches About Atmospheric Phaenomena by Thomas Forster show him to have been fully abreast of meteorological terminology.[21] "I have done a good deal of skying", Constable wrote to Fisher on 23 October 1821; "I am determined to conquer all difficulties, and that most arduous one among the rest".[22] Constable once wrote in a letter to Leslie, "My limited and abstracted art is to be found under every hedge, and in every lane, and therefore nobody thinks it worth picking up".[23] He could never have imagined how influential his honest techniques would turn out to be.

Constable's art inspired not only contemporaries like Géricault and Delacroix, but the Barbizon School, and the French impressionists of the late nineteenth century. Gallery Boat-building near Flatford Mill 1815, Victoria and Albert Museum, London Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds c. 1825. As a gesture of appreciation for John Fisher, the Bishop of Salisbury, who commissioned this painting, Constable included the Bishop and his wife in the canvas. Their figures can be seen at the bottom left of the painting, behind the fence and under the shade of the trees. The Opening of Waterloo Bridge seen from Whitehall Stairs, June 18, 1817, oil on canvas, c. 1832.

Tate Britain Regency History: The life of the Romantic landscape painter, John Constable (1776-1837) The life of the Romantic landscape painter, John Constable (1776-1837) by from Memoirs of the Life of John Constable by CR Leslie (1845) Profile John Constable (11 June 1776 - 31 March 1837) was an English Romantic painter famous for his landscapes, including many based on the area around his home in Suffolk, now known as “Constable Country”. His most famous works include The Hay Wain, Dedham Vale and View of Salisbury Cathedral. Family background Constable was born in East Bergholt in Suffolk on 11 June 1776. He was the second son of Golding Constable, a gentleman farmer and mill owner, and his wife Ann. He left boarding school after being badly bullied and became a day pupil at Dedham grammar school where the headmaster, Reverend Grimwood, encouraged his early interest in painting. The handsome miller Already desirous of becoming an artist, Constable fought against his family’s desire for him to enter the church.

However, when it became clear that his elder brother, who had learning difficulties, would be unable to take over from his father, Constable accepted his duty and entered the family business. Through Constable’s work, he became intimately acquainted with the countryside surrounding the River Stour, where his father owned the copyhold of Flatford watermill. Constable was known in the neighbourhood as the “handsome miller”.(1) The Windmill - an engraving by David Lucas from Spring (1792) from Memoirs of the Life of John Constable by CR Leslie (1845) Part-time painter In his spare time, Constable continued to paint and draw, advised by his friend and fellow painter, John Dunthorne, a local plumber whose son later became his studio assistant. In 1795, Constable’s mother gained him a valuable introduction to Sir George Beaumont and a year later he met two other artists, John Cranch and JT "Antiquity" Smith, who were able to give him practical drawing instruction. The Royal Academy When his younger brother Abram was old enough to take over his role in the family business, Constable was free to go to London to study art.

On 4 February 1799 (1), he was admitted as a student at the Royal Academy , firstly to study antiquities and later life studies. Drawing from life at the Royal Academy from The Microcosm of London (1808-10) Although Constable started exhibiting at the Royal Academy in 1802, his work was criticised for its poor finish or “unfinished handling”; he was not elected an associate until November 1819, and was only made a full member on 10 February 1829. Friendships Constable was fortunate to have supportive friends offering both patronage and advice. Joseph Farington was an influential member of the Royal Academy who, along with Sir George Beaumont, gave him access to old masters, which he copied to develop his powers of execution. Another valuable friend was Dr John Fisher, who became Bishop of Salisbury and chaplain to the Royal Academy, and whose nephew John Fisher became Constable’s best friend. Landscape artist Constable was a prolific artist, producing lots of sketches from which he painted landscapes, including a number of large-scale paintings which he referred to as his “six-footers”. Unfortunately his devotion to landscapes was not financially rewarding.

He was forced to paint portraits to earn money and his parents, who were still subsidising his studies in 1809, urged him to follow this more lucrative path. Despite suffering from depression and bouts of illness, Constable worked tirelessly, developing his style of landscape painting and filling his studio with pictures of Dedham Vale. The love of Constable’s life Constable fell in love with Maria Bicknell and when she came of age in 1809, the couple declared their mutual affection. But they met with stern resistance from Maria’s family, in particular, from Maria’s maternal grandfather, Dr Rhudde, who threatened to disinherit Maria’s family if she married Constable. Constable was determined to prove himself and gain financial security. However, it was not until he received an inheritance on the death of his father that Constable was finally able to marry. Constable and Maria were married on 2 October 1816 at St Martin’s Church, London. The ceremony was conducted by John Fisher who invited the Constables to spend their honeymoon at his vicarage in Osmington, near Weymouth , in Dorset.

Devoted husband and father Constable was devoted to his wife and their seven children, but Maria’s health proved to be a constant source of concern. In August 1819, he rented a cottage in Hampstead to enable his family to escape from the bad air of London and they later moved there permanently. Constable split his time between his London studio and his family home. Hampstead Heath - an engraving by David Lucas from Memoirs of the Life of John Constable by CR Leslie (1845) In 1820, Constable visited his friend Fisher, now a canon in Salisbury, and in 1824, he took his family to Brighton so that Maria could benefit from the sea air. But Maria’s consumption worsened and she died of tuberculosis on 23 November 1828, leaving Constable heartbroken and with seven children under the age of eleven to look after. Recognition at last Constable had sold very little of what he had exhibited, but in 1818, he sold two paintings and started to be noticed by the reviewers. But praise was not universal.

Although his work was appreciated for its power, it was often criticised for its surface texture, which was accused of being like “chopped hay and whitewash” and a certain spottiness - "Constable's snow"(2). Constable received more widespread success in France. He exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1824 and was awarded a gold medal by Charles X and won another in Lille in 1826. Engravings and lectures Constable commissioned David Lucas to engrave several of his paintings and sketches and was intimately involved in their preparation before their publication in 1830-2. In the last years of his life, Constable gave various lectures including a series at the Royal Institution on the history of landscape painting in May to June 1836. He was elected a member of both the Royal Institution and the Graphic Society in 1836. The Royal Institution from The Microcosm of London (1808-10) Death Constable suddenly became ill on 31 March 1837 with sickness and giddiness and died that night.(3) The exact cause of his death is unknown.

He was buried in the churchyard of St John’s, Hampstead, next to his wife, leaving an estate valued at £25,000 to his seven children who were all under age. Read about another Regency era painter - Sir Thomas Lawrence . Notes (1) From Memoirs of the Life of John Constable by CR Leslie (1845). (2) From the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for John Constable by Judy Crosby Ivy (see below). (3) The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that Constable died in the early hours of 1 April, but all other sources state the date of death as 31 March.

Sources used include: Ivy, Judy Crosby, Constable, John (1776-1837) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn Jan 2008, accessed 5 Oct 2012) Leslie, Charles Robert, RA, Memoirs of the Life of John Constable, Esq, RA (1845) John Constable 1776–1837 | Tate Wikipedia entry Artist biography Constable was born at East Bergholt, Suffolk, the son of a corn and coal merchant and farmer. He devoted much of his life to painting the local landscape , the scenes of his 'careless boyhood' which, he said, 'made me a painter' (in R.B. Beckett, ed., John Constable's Correspondence, VI, Ipswich 1968, p.78). He went to work for his father in the family business about 1792. In 1794 he made a sketching tour of Norfolk. He made his first etchings in 1797.

In 1799 Constable was introduced to Joseph Farington, RA, and entered the Royal Academy Schools. He visited Staffordshire and Derbyshire in 1801. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1802. He received a commission in 1805 to paint an altarpiece for the church at Brantham. He toured the Lake District in 1806. In 1810 he began work for an altarpiece for Nayland Church. Constable began to see his future wife, Maria Bicknell (see Maria Bicknell, Mrs John Constable, 1816 Tate Gallery N02655 ) regularly from 1809, although they had met some years earlier. They married in 1816, despite opposition from her family, and eventually had seven children. They moved to Keppel Street, Bloomsbury , London in 1817.

From 1819, because of his wife's ill health, Constable rented a house for his family at Hampstead, making about a hundred studies of cloud formations, many oil sketches of Hampstead views, and several 'finished' works on the spot (see Hampstead Heath, with the House Called 'The Salt Box', c.1819-20, Tate Gallery N01236 ). They lived in Joseph Farington's former house in Charlotte Street, Bloomsbury from 1822. In 1824 they began going to Brighton for reasons of Maria's health. She died of tuberculosis in 1828. In a letter to his brother Golding of 19 December, Constable wrote, 'I shall never feel again as I have felt, the face of the World is totally changed to me' (in C.R. Leslie, ed. A. Shirley, Memoirs of the Life of John Constable, R.A., London 1937, p.234).

Constable exhibited regularly at the British Institution from 1808, at the Liverpool Academy 1813-14, at the Birmingham Society of Arts from 1829, and at the Worcester Institution 1834-6. He was made an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1819, and a Royal Academician in 1829. The Hay-Wain (1820-1, National Gallery, London) was one of three of his works shown at the Paris Salon in 1824 and earned him a gold medal from Charles X. In 1826 he was awarded a gold medal by the Society of Fine Arts, Lille, France, following exhibits at its Salon. Friendship with the Fisher family, especially Archdeacon John Fisher, took him to Salisbury in 1811, 1820, 1823 and 1829. The first edition of English Landscape, a series of prints after his work by David Lucas, was published 1830-2.

Between 1833 and 1836 Constable lectured on landscape painting at the Royal Institution, the Hampstead Literary and Scientific Society, and the Worcester Athenaeum. He visited West Sussex in 1834 and 1835. He died in Bloomsbury, and was buried in the churchyard of St John's, Hampstead. Further reading: Read more Wikipedia entry John Constable, RA (/ˈkʌnstəbəlˌ ˈkɒn-/; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821, "painting is but another word for feeling". His most famous paintings include Wivenhoe Park of 1816,Dedham Vale of 1802 and The Hay Wain of 1821.

Although his paintings are now among the most popular and valuable in British art, Constable was never financially successful. He did not become a member of the establishment until he was elected to the Royal Academy at the age of 52. His work was embraced in France, where he sold more works than in his native England and inspired the Barbizon school. East Bergholt, Suffolk | Coast Alive East Bergholt, Suffolk A very popular English village The Dedham Vale has the official status of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is perfect cycling and walking country and is the only way to really appreciate Constable's landscapes. Delight in discovering this quintessential English countryside at a more relaxed pace, the way that the famous English painter John Constable himself did. Constable was born in East Bergholt and lived there during the early part of his life before moving to London to pursue his painting career. The house is no longer standing, but a plaque indicates where it once stood on railings near to church. The Church of St Mary the Virgin in East Bergholt has a very unusual Bell Cage in the churchyard where the bells are still rung by hand to this day.

The graves of Constable's parents can also be found here and a wall plaque commemorating the life of Constable's wife Maria can be found inside the church. Visitors are made very welcome & refreshments are available from April to October on Mondays to Thursdays (10am - 12.30). East Bergholt is a good place to buy a picnic or stop for refreshments and has a shop, post office and a number of pubs. Lucky for cyclists is that there is a cycle hire and repairs service called the Bike Doctor (Tel: 01206 298646) which is located at the village garage (a 3 minute cycle ride from the village centre). There are a number of well established cycle routes in the area, such as Painters Trail. Tourist Information:

Question: Which famous English painter (1776-1837) was born in East Bergholt, Suffolk?
Answer: John Constable