Stratford Mill

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Artist: John Constable (British, 1776–1837)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 51 1/2 × 72 1/2 inches (130.8 × 184.2 cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Constable adopted an ambitious new scale for paintings that he called his “six-footers,” matching his increasing artistic confidence. This is a full-size “sketch” for the finished version of Stratford Mill that Constable exhibited at the Royal Academy. Prepared in the studio, the sketch allowed him to see the overall effect while maintaining the immediacy of the studies painted on the spot.

Making these large sketches was unique to Constable among landscape painters. Small changes to the completed painting, such as the position of the fishing rod in the foreground, show him perfecting the composition. Instead of the detailed finish of the exhibited work, these studies possess a loose and expressive use of paint that invites viewers into the process of painting.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.