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Wivenhoe Park, Essex, 1816
oil on canvas, 56 x 101 cm
This picture, exhibited at Britain's Royal Academy in 1817, demonstrates Constable's wish to be "a
natural painter" because it was created almost entirely out-of-doors. During August and September 1816, the artist documented
this country estate of old family friends and recorded his progress in letters to his fiancée. (The commission financed their
wedding.)
Centered in the panoramic design, the red brick manor house stands out by reason of its warm colour in an otherwise cool
scheme of blues, greens, and grays. Constable wrote about the "great difficulty" of incorporating the thatch-roofed deer
barn. To add this requested motif, he cleverly sewed about an inch of extra fabric to the canvas at the far right. Then, in
order to restore the composition's symmetrical balance, he stitched a similar strip to the left side, where he showed the
owners' daughter, Mary Rebow, driving a donkey cart. This view is still recognizable today.
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