At the Royal Academy exhibition of 1831, John Constable decided to have his painting Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows hung between two works by J.M.W. Turner: Caligula’s Palace and Bridge and The Vision of Medea. The contrast between the paintings was striking – Constable’s meteorological drama set against Turner’s hazier classical idylls – and their placement immediately upset Turner. But the fact that Constable was even on the Academy’s hanging committee was indicative of how far the painter had come: by the time Constable first exhibited at the Academy in 1802, Turner had already been elected an Academician. This exhibition at Tate Britain offers fascinating glimpses into their relationship and insights into how their work was received by contemporaries. Most rewardingly, it also allows us to compare work by two masters who were born within a year of each other and transformed British landscape painting in vastly different ways (27 November–12 April 2026). Accompanying the exhibition is a new short film in which the artists Frank Bowling, Bridget Riley, George Shaw and Emma Stibbon reflect on Turner and Constable’s place in art history.
Find out more from the Tate’s website.
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