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Cloudy Landscape
John Constable·c. 1807
Historical Context
This cloudy landscape from around 1807 demonstrates Constable's conviction that the sky was the "keynote" and "chief organ of sentiment" in landscape painting. His cloud-dominated compositions were revolutionary in treating the sky as the primary subject rather than a backdrop. Constable's technique of working with rapid, spontaneous brushwork to capture transient natural effects was revolutionary; he made full-scale oil sketches for his large exhibition paintings, treating the sketch as a vehic
Technical Analysis
The painting gives the cloud formations prominence and weight, rendering them with the same structural attention Constable brought to earth-bound subjects, creating a sky-dominated composition of atmospheric power.
Look Closer
- ◆Look at the cloudy sky — Constable gives the overcast or cloudy conditions the full compositional treatment, the sky as the 'keynote' of the landscape even when it offers drama through cloud rather than sunlight.
- ◆Notice the specific quality of overcast light — the flat, diffuse illumination of a cloudy day that removes the dramatic shadows of sunlit compositions, creating a different but equally valid landscape mood.
- ◆Observe the landscape under the cloudy sky — the colours and tones of a landscape viewed under cloud, subtler than in sunlight, Constable capturing the honest character of English weather.
- ◆Find the specific cloud formations — even overcast conditions have specific cloud types and textures visible in Constable's careful sky observation, each weather state having its own visual character.
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