Constable, Gainsborough, Turner and the Making of Landscape
8 December 2012 - 17 February 2013
The John Madejski Fine Rooms and Weston Rooms
Saturday – Thursday 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
This exhibition has closed.
Friends of the RA go free
This exhibition presents works by the three towering figures of English landscape painting – John Constable RA, Thomas Gainsborough RA and JMW Turner RA – and explores the development of the British school of landscape painting.
Since the foundation of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768, its Members have included artists committed to landscape painting, addressing the changing meaning of "truth to nature" and the discourses surrounding the beautiful, the sublime and the picturesque.
During the 18th and 19th centuries there was a shift in style in landscape painting, represented here in the works of Gainsborough, the emotionally charged and sublime landscapes of Turner and Constable’s sentimental, romantic scenes.
Showcasing major works from the Royal Academy Collections, the exhibition features highlights such as Gainsborough’s Romantic Landscape (c.1783), Constable’s The Leaping Horse (1825) and Boat Passing a Lock (1826) alongside Turner’s brooding diploma work, Dolbadern Castle (1800).
A number of works by their contemporaries Richard Wilson, Michael Angelo Rooker and Paul Sandby are also exhibited, with prints made after 17th century masters whose work served as models: Claude, Poussin, Gaspard Dughet and Salvator Rosa. Letters by Gainsborough, Turner’s watercolour box and Constable’s palette are on display, bringing their artistic practice to life.
Saturday – Thursday 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
This exhibition has closed.
Friends of the RA go free
Reviews
"Spectacular"
The Times
"Fascinating"
The Arts Desk
John Constable RA in Hampstead
We speak to Rebecca Lodge, curator at Burgh House in Hampstead about Constable's relationship with the area.
Gallery
Cloud Study, Hampstead, Tree at Right, 1821
A Boat Passing a Lock, 1826
The Leaping Horse, 1825
Romantic Landscape, c. 1783
'Mountainous Wooded Landscape with Figures and Sheep' (Study for 'Romantic Landscape'), c. 1783
Durham Cathedral, 1798-99
Dolbadern Castle, 1800
