Constable and Salisbury

Apart from the Stour valley on the borders of Suffolk and Essex, where he grew up, John Constable made more paintings and drawings in and around Salisbury than in any other part of England. He stayed in the city seven times, episodes that were among the most significant of his life. The repercussions are felt in every area of his art, from his first short visit in 1811, whose bi-centenary this publication marks, to one of his final exhibits at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, the watercolour Stonehenge. Paintings and drawings of Salisbury figure in every exhibition of Constable’s art, but they have never been considered in isolation. This publication features his varied responses to the architecture and landscape of the Close and the surrounding countryside – both relatively unchanged over the past two centuries – and shows Constable at the height of his powers.