Comments on: Feel Art Again: John Constable & Asher Durand

By: Andréa

Andréa — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:59:56 +0000

Roger: “Beeches” is 60 3/8 x 48 1/8 in., if that gives you a better feel for how small the background objects are.

By: Roger

Roger — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:40:00 +0000

Very cool – I have to say, I’m also enjoying the comparisons! For some reason, I’m drawn more to ‘The Beeches’ than to the Constable painting. I think there’s something about the composition that makes me prefer one over the other – Durand’s seems more balanced.

I wonder what the physical size is for ‘Beeches’… I was zooming in on it at the Met site, and I think there’s a village (or, at the least, a very interesting rock formation) way in the background, in the distant clearing between the trees. Regardless of the size of the original, whatever I’m looking at would have to be incredibly minute in proportion to the rest of the work.

By: Larriann

Larriann — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:45:16 +0000

Thank you for including these comparisons. Reminds me of some Art History classes from my past. I’ve always enjoyed Constable’s paintings – primarily for the details like the boy drinking from the brook. Durand may be “true to nature” but only nature at her most dramatically lit.