Rivals & Originals
Updated: Oct 3
JMW Turner and John Constable were contemporaries and artistic rivals at Royal Academy exhibitions. Rivals and Originals at Tate Britain offers a chance to see their paintings side by side and trace their diverging approaches to landscape. Initially similar, their work became radically different from each other.
York House Watergate (1795) by Turner Snow Storm: Steam Boat off a Harbour Mouth (1842) by Turner Turner self-portrait (1799)
Turner and Constable were both accomplished watercolourists. The youthful Turner’s watercolour paintings were highly detailed topographical views that gave no hint of the atmospheric images of his later years. By the early nineteenth century, Turner had developed a much looser way of painting and turned landscape into a subject in its own right. A lovely example of this is a small oil sketch called The Thames near Windsor. This has much in common with Constable’s Path Towards Stratford St Mary, one of the numerous oil sketches he produced en plein air – painting outdoors to capture the feeling of his subjects on the spot (as the French Impressionists would do from the 1870s). Constable then developed his paintings in the studio, adding detail and 'finish' according to artistic standards of the time.
Thames near Windsor (1805) by Turner Portrait of Constable (1799) by RR Reinagle Path Towards Stratford St Mary (1816) by Constable
Constable's focus was on depicting a distinctively English kind of landscape through attention to detail. He returned to familiar fields, rivers and country lanes to paint pictures built up from close observation and lots of detail. There’s something very thoughtful and committed about that. Constable goes deep, sticking with what he knows and trusting repetition to reveal something new. Constable’s best paintings are pleasing and invite quiet contemplation: they are beautiful, according to Edmund Burke’s book about the differences between the Sublime and the Beautiful.
Watermeadows at Salisbury (1820) by Constable The White Horse (1819) by Constable Cloud Study (1821) by Constable Dedham Lock and Mill (1818) by Constable
Turner, on the other hand, became a master of the Sublime, creating works full of emotional intensity, untamed nature and dissolving forms. Turner went travelling around Europe, seeking dramatic vistas and landscapes to inspire his imagination. His watercolour studies of Venice are light filled and stripped of detail, and he managed to translate this technique into his subsequent oil paintings.
Staffa, Fingal's Cave (1832) by Turner Venice watercolour (1840) by Turner Hannibal Crossing the Alps (1812) by Turner Petworth House, Sunset (1829) by Turner
In the 1820s and 30s, Constable produced watercolours of the beach at Brighton that are very different from his detailed oil six-footers, and Rainstorm over the Sea and Stonehenge are much closer to Romanticism than Realism.
Brighton Evening (1828) by Constable Brighton Beach (1824) by Constable Rainstorm over the Sea (1824) by Constable Stonehenge (1835) by Constable
Turner's mature works are fully immersed in the Sublime. The Burning of the Houses of Parliament (1835) is pure drama: fire, smoke and reflected light almost swallows the subject entirely. It feels dangerous and thrilling. Constable’s The Opening of Waterloo Bridge (1832) is impressive but his dedication to detail goes too far. The painting feels static and overworked, and has none of the charm of Constable’s smaller works. Turner’s explosive use of light and his confidence with paint make his work so much more compelling.
The Opening of Waterloo Bridge (1832) by Constable The Thames above Waterloo Bridge (1835) by Turner The Burning of the Houses of Parliament (1835) by Turner Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831) by Constable
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