A lock on the Stour

1824–1828

The family in Brighton for Maria’s health

When Maria began to show symptoms of tuberculosis, Constable took lodgings for the family in Brighton in the hope that sea air would restore her health, dividing his time between Brighton and Charlotte Street in London. He was unsure at first that Brighton suited painting, and complained to Fisher that the beach was only Piccadilly by the sea.

1825

A quarrel with Arrowsmith: the French market is lost

In 1825 Constable quarrelled with Arrowsmith and lost his French outlet, perhaps partly from worry over his wife’s health, the uncongenial life at Brighton and the pressure of outstanding commissions. In a few years he had sold more than twenty pictures in France, more than he sold at home.

after 1828

Mezzotints for “English Landscape” with David Lucas

Maria’s father, who died shortly before her, left her £20,000, and Constable spent it disastrously on mezzotints after his landscapes for a planned publication. With the engraver David Lucas he made forty prints, one going through thirteen proof stages, but too few subscribers came forward and the venture lost money.

23 November 1828

The death of his wife Maria

After the birth of their seventh child the family returned to Hampstead, where Maria died of tuberculosis at the age of 41. “Hourly do I feel the loss of my departed Angel,” Constable wrote to his brother.

1828–1837

A widower with seven children

For the rest of his life Constable dressed in black and brought up his seven children alone; according to Leslie he was “a prey to melancholy and anxious thoughts”. Several of the children also painted, notably Lionel.

February 1829

Elected to the Royal Academy at fifty-two

In February 1829, three months after his wife’s death, Constable was elected a member of the Royal Academy, at the age of 52.