Constable & McTaggart: A Meeting of Two Masterpieces
“The Scottish National Gallery’s pairing of two masterpieces – a ‘new’ Constable and McTaggart’s The Storm – is inspired and impressive”
The Scotsman
One of the greatest masterpieces of British art, Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831) is one of a monumental series of ‘six-footer’ canvases painted by John Constable and was considered by the artist to convey ‘the fullest impression of the compass of his art’.
Painted in the aftermath of the death of the artist’s beloved wife Maria, this turbulent landscape is the most visually spectacular of all the ‘six-footers’ and the one of which he was most proud, referring to it as ‘The Great Salisbury’.
Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831) was shown in dialogue with one of the most powerful and celebrated of all Scottish landscape paintings: William McTaggart’s The Storm (1890). Constable’s work was a source of profound inspiration for William McTaggart throughout much of his career, both on an artistic and personal level, and the display will explore the transformative influence of his artistic practice and technique on the ‘Father of Scottish Painting’.
Listen to an audio description of Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows 1831:
This audio description was developed by VocalEyes, in collaboration with Tate, for Aspire, a partnership programme touring Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows 1831 across the UK. Aspire is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Art Fund. © Tate 2015
Constable’s extraordinary landscape was secured by Tate for the British public in 2013 with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Manton Foundation, the Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation) and Tate Members. The painting comes to Edinburgh through the Aspire programme, a ground-breaking partnership of five UK museums and galleries: Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales, Colchester and Ipswich Museums Service, National Galleries of Scotland, The Salisbury Museum and Tate Britain.
Image: Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows exhibited 1831 John Constable © Tate, London 2013. Purchased with assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Manton Foundation, Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation) and Tate Members.
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