Comparing the works of John Constable to the great poet William Wordsworth

During the early nineteenth century John Constable was known for his great artistry across Europe. His interest and love for paint began in 1799 when Constable convinced his father into letting him attend the Royal Academy School to pursue art - his passion as a romantic artist was in landscapes. His style, brushstroke techniques and eye for detail, progressed over the years but he remained true to his passion of capturing nature and the beautiful world that surrounded him. It is refreshing to see the freshness of light, touch, and colour carry on through his entire body of work. When studying the paintings and their compositions, one can note the similarities between Constable’s works of nature and landscapes and the written words of William Wordsworth, a poet during that time who was also an acquaintance of Constable. Both a painting and a poem can act as a memory. The way in which Constable uses very gestured like fluidity through his painting gives that feeling of a dream or blurred memory, luring you deeper into his work and into your thoughts, allowing you to create or see your own memories in his work. One can obtain the same kind of response when reading the poems of William Wordsworth, as one reads each stanza they become lost in thought and in the world of Wordswoth’s words. Constable’s paintings, Barges on the stour: Dedham Church in the distance, 1812 and Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, 1831 are extraordinary exemplifiers of his nature based work and highlight the link between his feelings about nature to those seen within Wordsworth’s poem, Tintern Abbey. After analyzing these three works and pinpointing their similarities, it can be noted that Constable and Wordsworth had much influence upon each other’s art,...

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...s came to love them.

In conclusion, there are clear similarities between the painter Constable and poet Wordsworth. These artists mimicked one another in their works and influenced the other to remain consistent to the depictions of nature and landscapes. In telling a story of feelings and emotions the artists capture the audiences’ bodies and minds, instilling a sense of dreaminess. The paintings by Constable, Barges on the stour: Dedham Church in the distance, 1812 and Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, 1831 perfectly depict this idea of the dreamy, whimsical feeling represented in nature. Wordsworth’s poem, Tintern Abbey similarly highlights these airy, dreamy feelings that nature exhibits. These works perfectly represent the state of mind of John Constable and Williams Wordsworth and in comparing them one can duly note their similarities.