John Constable's The Stour Valley and Dedham Village, painting either in 1814 or 1815, is a stunning and accurate depiction of the beautiful English countryside from the days before photography.
But for almost 200 years, the exact spot which Constable painted in that picture has remained a mystery - until now.
Martin Atkinson, a John Constable fan, pored over Suffolk records dating back to 1814 to try to recreate the lay of the land as the English Romantic artist would have seen it.
He has now located where Constable painted The Stour Valley and Dedham Village, and the spot will be included in the National Trust's guided walks through Constable Country
Many of Constable's other viewpoints had already been located, and the spots where he painted landscapes including The Hay Wain and Boat-Building, are well-known to enthusiasts
Dedham is located on the border between Suffolk and Essex, and has been designated an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Constable - who had seven children with his childhood sweetheart Maria Bicknell - was one of the most famous men of Regency England and died of indigestion in 1837.
Scandalously, The Stour Valley and Dedham Village is now housed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachussetts.
John Constable fan solves 195-year-old mystery by discovering artist's favourite painting spot
By Vanessa Allen
26th January 2010
Daily Mail
For almost two centuries it has baffled art historians: the exact spot where an inspired John Constable painted this priceless landscape.
While the object of his inspiration was clear, experts were unable to pinpoint where the artist had set up his easel to capture the Suffolk scene.
But now the 195-year-old mystery has been solved thanks to some detective work by a dedicated Constable fan.
John Constable's The Stour Valley and Dedham Village (1814 or 1815) was Flatford, Suffolk (below)
Constable fan Martin Atkinson discovered the location after extensive research
Martin Atkinson pored over Suffolk records dating back to 1814 to try to recreate the lay of the land as the English Romantic artist would have seen it.
He has now located where Constable painted The Stour Valley and Dedham Village, and the spot will be included in the National Trust's guided walks through Constable Country.
Mr Atkinson, the Trust's property manager for East Suffolk, said: 'It's great to see where an old master once stood - and be inspired by the same views as them.
'When I discovered that I had worked out the location where Constable painted this particular masterpiece, I couldn't believe it. All the pieces of the jigsaw finally fitted together.'
Many of Constable's other viewpoints had already been located, and the spots where he painted landscapes including The Hay Wain and Boat-Building are well-known to enthusiasts.
But changes in the landscape around the village of Dedham, on the border of Suffolk and Essex, have made this painting more difficult to trace.
Constable was known to have painted in and around the local area, but the exact location from which he painted this picture had eluded experts for years
It has been designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty, and there are strict regulations surrounding building and development.
But changes to hedge boundaries and the growth of trees which were mere saplings when Constable was painting made this particular panorama more of a challenge.
Constable, the son of a wealthy corn merchant, was born in East Bergholt, Suffolk in 1776 and is famous for his love of painting the landscape of Dedham Vale, the area around his home. In 1816, Constable married his childhood sweetheart, Maria Bicknell, despite the marriage being opposed by her grandfather Dr Rhudde, the rector of East Bergholt, as he considered the Constables his social inferiors. In 1821, he produced his most famous work, The Hay Wain. Constable loved England - in his lifetime he was to sell only twenty paintings in England, but in France he sold more than twenty in just a few years. Despite this, he refused all invitations to travel internationally to promote his work, writing to his friend Francis Darby: "I would rather be a poor man in England than a rich man abroad". In November 1828, after falling ill after the birth of her seventh child in January, his beloved Maria died of tuberculosis. A distraught Constable wrote to his brother: "Hourly do I feel the loss of my departed Angel—God only knows how my children will be brought up…the face of the World is totally changed to me". In 1829, at the age of 52, Constable was elected to the Royal Academy. He also delivered lectures to the Royal Institution. He died from indigestion on 31st March 1837 and was buried with his wife Maria in Hampstead, north London.
Mr Atkinson used features from the painting and historic maps of the area from the Suffolk Records Office to identify the exact location.
By studying the geography of the churches at Dedham and nearby Langham, the Fen Bridge and the bend in the River Stour, he armed himself with some reference points which had not changed through the centuries.
He then plotted them on a modern map along with changes to field boundaries set out in the enclosure maps of the time.
The spot in Flatford will now be included on the National Trust's guided walks of Constable country
Mr Atkinson said: 'By plotting out where the field boundaries would once have been, we were able to pinpoint the exact location from which Constable painted this particular view.
'Most of Constable's landscapes painted in the Dedham Vale are now known, but questions do remain over some.
'This one in particular had confused us, but once we were able to identify the changes in the landscape, many of which had been made in Constable's lifetime, we were able to solve the 195-year mystery.'
Constable is believed to have painted The Stour Valley and Dedham Village in 1814 or 1815.
He was born in nearby East Bergholt and the surrounding countryside became the inspiration for many of his most famous works.
He said the landscapes had 'made me a painter, and I am grateful', adding: 'The sound of water escaping from mill dams etc, willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts, and brickwork, I love such things.'
Art historians say the direction of light in the painting shows he painted it in the morning, and he is strongly believed to have worked on it in the open air before walking to neighbouring Flatford, where he painted the better-known Boat-Building at Flatford Mill in the afternoons.
Boat-Building at Flatford Mill, 1815
Shortly after completing this landscape, the artist wrote: 'This charming season ... occupies me entirely in the fields and I believe I have made some landscapes that are better than is usual with me.'
The painting is now housed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, in the U.S.
But for those who want to follow in Constable's footsteps, they now admire the view from the same spot where he once found inspiration.
Paul Andrae, an assistant for the National Trust holds a print of artist John Constable's The Stour Valley, at the spot where it was painted 195 years ago at Flatford in Suffolk
dailymail.co.uk
But for almost 200 years, the exact spot which Constable painted in that picture has remained a mystery - until now.
Martin Atkinson, a John Constable fan, pored over Suffolk records dating back to 1814 to try to recreate the lay of the land as the English Romantic artist would have seen it.
He has now located where Constable painted The Stour Valley and Dedham Village, and the spot will be included in the National Trust's guided walks through Constable Country
Many of Constable's other viewpoints had already been located, and the spots where he painted landscapes including The Hay Wain and Boat-Building, are well-known to enthusiasts
Dedham is located on the border between Suffolk and Essex, and has been designated an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Constable - who had seven children with his childhood sweetheart Maria Bicknell - was one of the most famous men of Regency England and died of indigestion in 1837.
Scandalously, The Stour Valley and Dedham Village is now housed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachussetts.
John Constable fan solves 195-year-old mystery by discovering artist's favourite painting spot
By Vanessa Allen
26th January 2010
Daily Mail
For almost two centuries it has baffled art historians: the exact spot where an inspired John Constable painted this priceless landscape.
While the object of his inspiration was clear, experts were unable to pinpoint where the artist had set up his easel to capture the Suffolk scene.
But now the 195-year-old mystery has been solved thanks to some detective work by a dedicated Constable fan.
John Constable's The Stour Valley and Dedham Village (1814 or 1815) was Flatford, Suffolk (below)
Constable fan Martin Atkinson discovered the location after extensive research
Martin Atkinson pored over Suffolk records dating back to 1814 to try to recreate the lay of the land as the English Romantic artist would have seen it.
He has now located where Constable painted The Stour Valley and Dedham Village, and the spot will be included in the National Trust's guided walks through Constable Country.
Mr Atkinson, the Trust's property manager for East Suffolk, said: 'It's great to see where an old master once stood - and be inspired by the same views as them.
'When I discovered that I had worked out the location where Constable painted this particular masterpiece, I couldn't believe it. All the pieces of the jigsaw finally fitted together.'
Many of Constable's other viewpoints had already been located, and the spots where he painted landscapes including The Hay Wain and Boat-Building are well-known to enthusiasts.
But changes in the landscape around the village of Dedham, on the border of Suffolk and Essex, have made this painting more difficult to trace.
Constable was known to have painted in and around the local area, but the exact location from which he painted this picture had eluded experts for years
It has been designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty, and there are strict regulations surrounding building and development.
But changes to hedge boundaries and the growth of trees which were mere saplings when Constable was painting made this particular panorama more of a challenge.
Constable, the son of a wealthy corn merchant, was born in East Bergholt, Suffolk in 1776 and is famous for his love of painting the landscape of Dedham Vale, the area around his home. In 1816, Constable married his childhood sweetheart, Maria Bicknell, despite the marriage being opposed by her grandfather Dr Rhudde, the rector of East Bergholt, as he considered the Constables his social inferiors. In 1821, he produced his most famous work, The Hay Wain. Constable loved England - in his lifetime he was to sell only twenty paintings in England, but in France he sold more than twenty in just a few years. Despite this, he refused all invitations to travel internationally to promote his work, writing to his friend Francis Darby: "I would rather be a poor man in England than a rich man abroad". In November 1828, after falling ill after the birth of her seventh child in January, his beloved Maria died of tuberculosis. A distraught Constable wrote to his brother: "Hourly do I feel the loss of my departed Angel—God only knows how my children will be brought up…the face of the World is totally changed to me". In 1829, at the age of 52, Constable was elected to the Royal Academy. He also delivered lectures to the Royal Institution. He died from indigestion on 31st March 1837 and was buried with his wife Maria in Hampstead, north London.
Mr Atkinson used features from the painting and historic maps of the area from the Suffolk Records Office to identify the exact location.
By studying the geography of the churches at Dedham and nearby Langham, the Fen Bridge and the bend in the River Stour, he armed himself with some reference points which had not changed through the centuries.
He then plotted them on a modern map along with changes to field boundaries set out in the enclosure maps of the time.
The spot in Flatford will now be included on the National Trust's guided walks of Constable country
Mr Atkinson said: 'By plotting out where the field boundaries would once have been, we were able to pinpoint the exact location from which Constable painted this particular view.
'Most of Constable's landscapes painted in the Dedham Vale are now known, but questions do remain over some.
'This one in particular had confused us, but once we were able to identify the changes in the landscape, many of which had been made in Constable's lifetime, we were able to solve the 195-year mystery.'
Constable is believed to have painted The Stour Valley and Dedham Village in 1814 or 1815.
He was born in nearby East Bergholt and the surrounding countryside became the inspiration for many of his most famous works.
He said the landscapes had 'made me a painter, and I am grateful', adding: 'The sound of water escaping from mill dams etc, willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts, and brickwork, I love such things.'
Art historians say the direction of light in the painting shows he painted it in the morning, and he is strongly believed to have worked on it in the open air before walking to neighbouring Flatford, where he painted the better-known Boat-Building at Flatford Mill in the afternoons.
Boat-Building at Flatford Mill, 1815
Shortly after completing this landscape, the artist wrote: 'This charming season ... occupies me entirely in the fields and I believe I have made some landscapes that are better than is usual with me.'
The painting is now housed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, in the U.S.
But for those who want to follow in Constable's footsteps, they now admire the view from the same spot where he once found inspiration.
Paul Andrae, an assistant for the National Trust holds a print of artist John Constable's The Stour Valley, at the spot where it was painted 195 years ago at Flatford in Suffolk
dailymail.co.uk
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