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Constable In Love
Constable In Love
Dec 25, 2024 8:21 AM

Author:Martin Gayford

Constable In Love

When John Constable fell in love with Maria Bicknell, granddaughter of a Suffolk country neighbour, he little knew how long it would take to make her his wife. The impediment to their marriage was simple: 'that necessary article cash'.

He was a painter without sufficient funds to support the daughter of a prominent London lawyer, and both he and her grandfather, the formidable (and sometimes comical) Rector of East Bergholt, disapproved of the match. It would be seven long, difficult years before they could marry, but in that time he would become one of the greatest painters of the nineteenth century.

Martin Gayford writes superbly about Constable's early years as a painter and Maria and John's correspondence provides the lively backdrop to the story; one of lovers' tiffs, London versus country life, encounters with Turner, Byron and Wordsworth, royal scandals and rivalries at the Royal Academy. All the time, John Constable battles to become a painter who can earn his living and win Maria's hand.

Reviews

Enthralling piece of detective work...Pitman offers a pithy and chilling insight into the mind of this precocious artist

—— The Times

Fascinating

—— Nigel Farndale , Daily Telegraph

Art history for the general reader comes no more stylishly packaged than this ... All the characters leap out of the page, and provenance has never been so exciting

—— Country Life

Joanna Pitman tells us something we already suspect to be true, and she does it beautifully

—— Spectator

Riveting ... Provocative ... Travelling undercover, this brunette produced a book which, like its subject, is wonderfully enlightening

—— Allison Pearson , Daily Telegraph

I defy anyone not to enjoy it ... It is well written, has pace and intrigues the reader ... Hugely entertaining

—— Evening Standard

Hicks' enchantment with the tapestry is compelling and her style confident and writerly

—— Daily Telegraph

A beguiling study

—— Financial Times

Engaging

—— Gillian Tindal , Literary Review

This beautifully written book is a splendid testament to the intelligence, attention to detail, depth of research, and down to earth vision of a first rate scholar

—— Theodore K Rabb , Times Literary Supplement

There are still interesting things to be said about Van Eyck's great double portrait

—— Michael Glover , Independent, Books of the Year

Exploring the double-portrait image in often revelatory detail, Hicks presents a truly inspiring picture of her own

—— Erica Wagner , The Times, Books of the Year

No-one can write, and explain, like Hicks. Here her mastery is complete

—— Spectator

This impressive work of art historical scholarship is in every way as engaging as its subject

—— Peter Murray , Irish Examiner

A rattlingly readable effort... Greig does a fine job revealing tales one suspects the artist may have wished to keep private.

—— Alastair Smart , Telegraph

Anybody with an ear for a good story, never mind an eye for fine art, will be beguiled.

—— Hephzibah Anderson , Mail on Sunday

Greig's fascinating, intimate biography of Lucian Freud was a revelation. Every question I had about Freud – from the aesthetic to the intrusively gossipy – was answered with great candour and judiciousness… Wry, dry and completely beguiling.

—— William Boyd , Guardian

[Greig’s] perceptive observations and eagle’s eye for detail immediately drew me in.

—— Rebecca Wallersteiner , Vantage

The Freud who emerges in this account is a slippery figure, not only for journalists who tried to explain him but also for his intimates.

—— New Yorker

Mr Greig's is a compelling portrait of a complete amoralist who became a monstre sacré.

—— The Economist

Greig’s portrait glimmers with his eye for the telling detail.

—— Robert Collins , Sunday Times

A mesmerising book, seamlessly crafted, totally absorbing, and impossible to put down.

—— The Tablet

A very readable and enjoyable book, full of salacious detail of the artist and his fascinating life.

—— Julia Weiner , Jewish Chronicle

This intimate biography of Lucian Freud spares no blushes in its account of one of Britain's greatest painters, tracing his life and work through candid revelations about his views on art, relationships and family.

—— Charlotte Mullins , Art Quarterly

Building up brush stroke by brush stroke, Greig has produced a three-dimensional study of equal candour. Part demon, part genius, it is an absorbing portrait of the complexity of a strange human character.

—— Peter Lewis , Daily Mail

An unapologetic mixture of intelligent perception and high gossip... It is, overall, more revealing than anything about [Freud] yet written.

—— Frances Spalding , Guardian

I am captivated by this fascinating memoir... It's an extraordinary read.

—— Barbara Taylor Bradford , Daily Mail

Candid and intelligent.

—— Spear's

A gripping, page-turning vision of Lucian Freud that penetrates deep into the artist's private life.

—— Sunday Times Online

Utterly engrossing and lavishly illustrated

—— Mail on Sunday
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