RA Magazine Blog: Leaping into history

John Constable RA's The Leaping Horse is the latest work to star in the 'Masterpiece a Month' exhibition, celebrating 200 years of the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

The work, which is on loan from the Royal Academy's collection, was painted in 1825 as one of Constable's famous 'six footers'. These were the large-scale canvases with which he secured his reputation as a serious landscape painter. Four years later, Constable was elected a Royal Academician.

We visited the exhibition with Royal Academician (and Dulwich local) Humphrey Ocean. In the video above, he shares his thoughts on why The Leaping Horse is such an important painting.

• The Leaping Horse is at Dulwich Picture Gallery until 30 October
• Constable is Artist of the Month on the RA Collections website - read more here

• Royal Academy of Arts