Marking 250 years since the birth of John Constable, this exhibition explores his collaboration with printmaker David Lucas in making the English Landscape print series and features Constable’s paintings alongside the 22 prints they inspired.
Discover the powerful collaboration between celebrated landscape painter John Constable and virtuoso printmaker David Lucas in John Constable and David Lucas: A Unison of Feeling. At the heart of this display is English Landscape (1830-32), a remarkable series of mezzotint prints that captured Constable’s vision of the natural world in rich, tonal detail.
Working closely in the final years of Constable’s life, the pair overcame class divides and creative tensions to produce 22 prints that echo the drama and depth of Constable’s original paintings. Bound by a shared reverence for nature, they used the mezzotint process to capture the shifting interplay of light and shade across the landscape.
Featuring Constable’s paintings alongside the prints they inspired, the display reveals how painter and printmaker worked in concert to celebrate England’s rural beauty and secure Constable’s artistic legacy. A contemporary response by artist Sarah Gillespie highlights the ongoing resonance of this masterful collaboration.
I have two mezzotints of my own on display alongside Constable and Lucas’ mezzotints. It has been a great joy and a privilege to work with the V&A curators and see this remarkable small exhibition come to fruition.
Every thing you need to know about visiting the V&A and learning about this little-known part of Constable’s late works; here
