Constable: The Making of a Master
20 September 2014 – 11 January 2015
This major exhibition reassesses John Constable’s influences, techniques and legacy to offer a new interpretation of Britain’s best-loved artist. Discover how great works of art are created as Constable’s most famous masterpieces are united with his revolutionary oil sketches: expressive evocations of land, sea and sky that allowed him to transfer the freshness of the outdoors into his exhibition paintings.
For the first time, Constable is presented alongside the old masters of classical landscape whose formal values he studiously assimilated. By combining the authority of their compositional ideas with a breathtakingly naturalistic vision that was entirely his own, Constable would ultimately transform the genre of landscape painting, and in the process shape the enduring popular image of the English countryside.
Image credit: Brighton Beach, 1824, Oil on paper © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Please note: Advance online and telephone tickets must be booked at least 24 hours prior to visit. Advance ticket bookings are available online and via the V&A Advance Booking Line until 10.00 on the day prior to the next scheduled exhibition date (Saturday and Sunday advance bookings are available until 10.00 on the prior Friday). Limited tickets are available to purchase at the Museum on the day of your visit. You are advised to arrive at the V&A for when the Museum opens at 10.00 for the best chance of purchasing a ticket. Please note tickets bought on the day may not be for immediate entry to the exhibition, but for later on that day. Some queuing time may be expected.