Artwork
Flatford Mill from a Lock on the Stour
Flatford Mill from a Lock on the Stour is an oil painting by the Romanticist artist John Constable. It dates from 1811 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
This quiet oil painting shows a flat landscape with a water mill. It’s a study Constable made before the bigger work shown in 1812.
He left out one small figure, a man at the lock gates, when he finished the final piece. Later he wrote that the riverbanks felt tied to his own boyhood memories.
Look next at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Overview
Flatford Mill from a Lock on the Stour is an oil painting study by John Constable, precursor to a larger work exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1812. The quiet landscape depicts a flat, serene scene of a water mill along the River Stour.
Subject & Meaning
The subject is Flatford Mill, owned by Constable's father, imbued with personal significance as the artist later linked the Stour's banks to his 'careless boyhood'. The composition conveys a sense of tranquility.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil, the study's technique and style are characteristic of Constable's early landscape explorations, though specific brushwork and color palette details are not highlighted in available information.
History & Provenance
Created as a preparatory study for the 1812 Royal Academy exhibition piece, a notable edit in the final version was the removal of a figure opening the lock gates at the left.
Context
For further contextualization, the Victoria and Albert Museum is suggested as a resource, implying potential relevance of their holdings to understanding this work's place in Constable's oeuvre.
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Artist & collection
Artist
John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition.
