Ploughing Scene in Suffolk
John Constable
1824 to 1825
Constable remained attentive to the rhythms of rural life, especially its traditional forms of labor. This painting is a later version of a landscape purchased by London wine merchant John Alnutt in 1814. Dissatisfied with the sky in the first version, Alnutt asked John Linnell to repaint it, perhaps causing tension between the artists. However, Constable did not hold a grudge against Alnutt. When Alnutt asked Constable to restore the original sky, he made this smaller version instead. Constable reimagined the scene from summer to fall, with wind and rain lashing thelandscape as ploughmen go about their work.
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven · Image: Yale Center for British Art, Public domain · Text: Yale Center for British Art, CC0