Constable and British Landscape Art
Weekend-long art history and theory course
5 February 2022 10am - 5pm6 February 2022 10am - 5pm
Wolfson British Academy Room, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts
£420
Late Constable
Terms and conditions
As the Royal Academy stages an exhibition of Constable’s late works, join us for a weekend course contextualising one of Britain’s most-loved artists within the tradition of British landscape art.
From Thomas Gainsborough RA to David Hockney RA, the British landscape has long provided painters with the inspiration that has brought them to acclaim. This course will explore the life and works of one of Britain’s best-known landscape painters, John Constable RA, using the exhibition Late Constable as a springboard.
The course will situate Constable as an unlikely – or underestimated – tastemaker, before exploring the wider artistic, literary and Romantic context; including his relationships with key figures such as J.M.W. Turner RA and William Wordsworth. The second day will use a wider lens to present interdisciplinary approaches, drawing on landscape and garden history, meteorology (in looking at Constable’s dynamic plein air oil sketches) and recent discoveries relating to his Brighton period.
Students will be taught by a series of art historians, curators and experts on the art of John Constable, and will be encouraged to engage in debate and discussion - though no prior knowledge is necessary. The course will include visits to the Late Constable exhibition and the RA Collection archives.
Covid-19 update: We are looking forward to welcoming you back in a way that ensures everyone's safety. Numbers will be limited to allow for social distancing, and we will be following the latest government guidelines. In the event of another national lockdown or enforced closure, we reserve the right to move this event online or to a future date. If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to discuss any accessibility needs, please contact academic.programmes@royalacademy.org.uk.
Minimum age 18.
About the speakers
Anne Lyles is a leading expert on 18th and 19th century British landscape painting, who worked at Tate Britain for 25 years. Co-curator of the RA’s Late Constable exhibition, Anne also co-curated Constable: the Great Landscapes (Tate Britain and other venues, 2006-7), Constable Portraits (National Portrait Gallery and Compton Verney, 2009) and advised on Constable and Brighton (Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, 2017).
Sarah Cove ACR is a UK Accredited Paintings Conservator-Restorer, Technical Art Historian and Lecturer. In 1986 she founded the Constable Research Project. She is now the leading authority on Constable’s oil painting materials and techniques and has contributed numerous essays, catalogues and papers to the Constable literature. She is an experienced international speaker and has appeared on both Constable episodes of BBC's ‘Fake or Fortune’
Dr Per Rumberg is curator at the Royal Academy of Arts, where he curated numerous exhibitions, including Charles I: King and Collector (2018). He studied in London, Florence and Berlin and received his PhD from the Courtauld Institute of Art. Per has co-curated the RA's Late Constable exhibition.
Dr Jacqueline Riding is the author of Jacobites (2016), Peterloo (2018) and the major biography, Hogarth: Life in Progress (2021, paperback March 2022). She was the historical and art historical adviser on Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner (2014) and Peterloo (2018) and is a Trustee of JMW Turner’s House, Twickenham.
Dr Susan Owens is an art historian, writer and former Curator of Paintings at the V&A. Her books include Spirit of Place: Artists, Writers and the British Landscape (Thames & Hudson, 2020).
Deborah Trentham is a garden historian, who has taught at Birkbeck University, KLC School of Design and Imperial College, as well as being a judge for the Society of Garden Designers Awards for five years. In 2013, Deborah established The Garden Historians; an organisation which promotes the study of garden history internationally through a range of courses and European garden tours. She has been published in publications including Art Quarterly and Home & Gardens.
Annette Wickham is Curator of Works on Paper for the RA Collection and has curated numerous exhibitions and displays. She regularly publishes and gives talks on aspects of the Royal Academy, its Collections and Schools and is a contributor to the Late Constable catalogue.
Dr Mina Gorji is an Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge Faculty of English and a Fellow of Pembroke College. She has published widely on poetry of the Romantic period, including a monograph on John Clare and essays on weeds, rudeness, pastoral and place. Her current project is a study of Listening in and to Romantic poetry. She is also a published poet; her debut collection, art of escape (Carcanet, 2020) was a Telegraph Book of the Month.
Professor John Thornes is Emeritus Professor in Applied Meteorology at the University of Birmingham. He has written many articles on the role of the sky in landscape/environmental art as well as the book John Constable’s Skies. He has recently shown (in an article in the Burlington Magazine) that the rainbow in Constable’s ‘Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows’ was added some three years after the painting was first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1831.
Ismini Samanidou’s methods are led by an experimental approach to materials and processes through weaving, drawing, photography and installation. Ismini's work is in the permanent collection of the V&A and the Crafts Council, and she has taken up residencies internationally, including a residency at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in the USA where she personally restored Anni Albers looms. Ismini has lectured extensively at The Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins.
Shân Lancaster is a writer and researcher who identified Constable’s Brighton lodgings and studio, then worked with the owner, Peter Harrap, on a Blue Plaque application - as well as the 2017 Constable exhibition at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. She edited the accompanying book, Constable and Brighton: Something out of Nothing.
Peter Harrap is a British Romanian artist and curator who, with his neighbour Shân Lancaster, set out to prove that he lives in Constable’s Brighton studio. Peter is working towards a PhD on ‘Walking, Painting and Poetry’. His exhibitions include Beyond Other Horizons (British Council/Romanian Cultural Institute, 2020) and Constable and Brighton: Something out of Nothing (Brighton Museum, 2017).
Our courses and classes programme
Our varied programme of short courses and classes provides an opportunity to explore subjects ranging from life drawing to the history of exhibitions and arts management, led by expert tutors and practising artists. These courses introduce traditional art-making processes, as well as perspectives on art history, theory and business.
Give this course as a gift
All of our courses can be purchased as a gift for a friend or family member – giving the gift of education and a remarkable experience. To arrange a personalised Gift Voucher, please contact the Academic Programmes Team, by calling 020 7300 5641 or email academicprogrammes@royalacademy.org.uk