Hampstead Heath, with a Bonfire
John Constable
ca. 1822
From 1819 onwards Constable, his wife Maria, and their growing family spent part of every year living near Hampstead Heath, an open area of uncultivated land northwest of London. This setting spurred Constable on to a new phase of experimentation: he perfected the representation of dramatic meteorological effects, which were visible from the high ground of the Heath. To emphasize the relatively untamed wildness of the Heath, Constable often included tiny figures in the landscape. In the present example these figures are rendered with a startling economy of touch—they are composed of little more than flicks of black paint.
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven · Image: Yale Center for British Art, Public domain · Text: Yale Center for British Art, CC0