East Bergholt 1830 - 1855

John Constable made this drawing of East Bergholt with graphite on paper. Constable lived during a time of great social change in England. The Industrial Revolution was transforming the landscape and the social order. Constable's identity as a rural Englishman was deeply connected to his art. He spent most of his life in the countryside and was deeply attached to the landscapes of his childhood. This drawing captures a stand of trees in East Bergholt, the village where Constable was born and raised. The artist's intimate knowledge of the area is clear in the careful observation of nature that the drawing reflects. His art could be understood as an assertion of a particular kind of Englishness. "I am come to a determination to make no idle visits this summer, but to give my whole life to landscape," said Constable. Through his detailed studies, he elevated the ordinary into the extraordinary and gave a voice to the landscape that shaped his identity.