John ConstableBritish, 1776–1837Valley Farm
May one see it?
Unknown: the museum keeps its counsel
The National Gallery
London, United Kingdom
The owner is known. Whether it is on view today, the museum does not say, and we were not trained to guess.
- In this state since
- Sep 29, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
The Valley Farm is an 1835 landscape painting by the British artist John Constable. Produced towards the end of his career, it features a view of the River Stour on the border of Essex and Suffolk in Eastern England. Now known as Constable Country, it depicts Willy Lott's Cottage at Flatford, a landscape he had painted a number of times.
The painting was displayed at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1835 in London, but critical reception was more muted than previous reviews of Constable's works. Today the painting is in the collection of the Tate Britain in Pimlico, having been gifted to the nation by the art collector Robert Vernon in 1847.
Particulars
- Accession number
- NG327
Sources
- Wikidata · fetched 4 days ago
- Image: The National Gallery — John Constable · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Meanwhile, in the life of John Constable
The whole life1828–1837
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.
1835
A last lecture to the Academy’s students
In 1835 Constable gave his last lecture to the students of the Royal Academy, praising Raphael and calling the Academy the “cradle of British art”; it was cheered most heartily.
1836
Lectures at the Royal Institution: three theses
In a series of lectures at the Royal Institution in 1836 Constable proposed three theses: landscape painting is scientific as well as poetic; imagination alone never can produce art that bears comparison with reality; and no great painter was ever self-taught.
31 March 1837
Death in the night, probably of heart failure
Constable died on the night of 31 March 1837, apparently of heart failure (another account names dyspepsia), and was buried beside Maria.
31 March 1837
Died
![Vallon à Helmingham [Helmingham Dell], Constable, John, 1e quart du XIXe siècle (peint à l'été 1823 (selon Beckett)) (1823)](https://collections.louvre.fr/media/cache/large/0000000021/0000065616/0000312650_OG.JPG)
