Osmington Village
John Constable
1816 to 1817
In 1816, John Constable and Maria Bicknell were married by the artist’s best friend, the clergyman John Fisher. Fisher hosted the newlyweds for their six-week honeymoon at his vicarage in Osmington, Dorset. In these two paintings, both Constable and Fisher, an amateur artist, show the parish church nestled within an idyllic landscape dotted with villagers going about their daily lives. Their correspondence—among the most important sources for understanding Constable’s art—reveals their shared desire to reimagine the world with childlike innocence.
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven · Image: Yale Center for British Art, Public domain · Text: Yale Center for British Art, CC0