Fishing boats at anchor

9 November, 1822 · Drawing · 18.5 × 22.4 cm

Particulars

1821
“The Hay Wain” at the Royal Academy
The picture, shown as “Landscape: Noon”, found no buyer, but it was seen by the painter Théodore Géricault and the writer Charles Nodier. According to Delacroix, Géricault went back to France quite stunned and invited Constable to Paris, while Nodier urged French artists to look to nature rather than to trips to Rome.
1821
“I should paint my own places best”
In a letter to his friend John Fisher in 1821 Constable wrote that he should paint his own places best, and that painting is but another word for feeling. The Dedham Vale around his home came to be known as “Constable Country”.
1821
Son born: Charles Golding Constable
1824
The Paris Salon: a gold medal
The Anglo-French dealer John Arrowsmith bought The Hay Wain and other works, and in 1824 they were shown at the Paris Salon, where they caused a sensation. The Hay Wain was awarded a gold medal by Charles X.
1824
Delacroix repaints the background of “The Massacre at Chios”
After seeing Constable’s pictures at Arrowsmith’s gallery, Delacroix repainted the background of his Massacre at Chios, saying the paintings had done him a great deal of good. In his journal he noted that Constable’s meadow greens are a combination of many different shades.