‘Constable in crisis: Let’s not forget the landscapes in the English artist’s works are as precious as his paintings’ by Robin Lane Fox (p.12)
The article highlights the importance and rarity of a landscape painted by Constable remaining largely intact and the way in which that connection is appreciated by tourists as well as art and garden historians. The author remarks that ‘Constable’s great paintings of landscapes and gardens in Suffolk cannot now be matched on the ground. […] The one place where we can still look through his eyes is Salisbury, in Wiltshire’.
‘…These landscapes offer a rare chance to experience the relationship between artist and subject. However, this heritage is under threat: plans to build a large archive facility in Leaden Hall’s historic garden would destroy trees and views Constable painted.’
‘Now for a shock…the spacious house has been left unoccupied for eight whole years by the Dean & Chapter. Now they are applying for permission to construct a big building to house the cathedral’s archives in the very garden that Constable’s painting shows from the upper window. As the garden floods in winter this new building will be raised up, destroying trees and views that Constable painted. The building will also destroy the chance of reinstating the walks and curves in the garden Constable knew.’
‘In a Master Plan drawn up in 2016, another site…was marked for this building without any indication that it should be put in Leaden Hall’s garden instead. This new location is a shocker…This unique site needs rehabilitation, not redevelopment…’
The article concludes with a mention of the Turner and Constable exhibition at Tate Britain, which will run from November 2025 to April 12th, 2026. Read the full article here.