MTU Cork Library Catalogue

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John Constable's skies : a fusion of art and science / John E. Thornes.

By: Thornes, John E.
Contributor(s): Constable, John, 1776-1837.
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK : University of Birmingham, University Press, c1999Description: 288 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 28 cm. + pbk.ISBN: 1902459024.Subject(s): Constable, John, 1776-1837 -- Criticism and interpretation | Skies in art | Art and meteorologyDDC classification: 759.2 CON
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
General Lending MTU Crawford College of Art and Design Library Lending 759.2 CON (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00050864
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

John Constable is arguably the most accomplished painter of English skies and weather of all time. For Constable, the sky was the keynote, the standard of scale and the chief organ of sentiment in a landscape painting. But how far did he understand the workings of the forces of nature which created his favourite cumulus clouds, portrayed in so many of his skies over the landscapes of Hampstead Heath, Salisbury and Suffolk? And were the skies he painted scientifically accurate? In this lucid and accessible study, John Thornes provides a meteorological framework for reading the skies of landscape art, compares Constable's skies to those produced by other artists from the middle ages to the nineteenth century, analyses Constable's own meteorological understanding, and examines the development of his painted skies. In so doing he provides fresh evidence to identify the year of painting of some of Constable's previously undated cloud studies.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-285) and index.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Acknowledgements (p. 8)
  • List of tables (p. 9)
  • List of figures (p. 11)
  • List of plates (p. 12)
  • Introduction (p. 17)
  • Chapter 1 Landscape meteorology (p. 21)
  • 1.1 The imitation of nature (p. 21)
  • 1.2 The sky (p. 24)
  • 1.3 The atmosphere (p. 28)
  • 1.3.1 Visibility (p. 29)
  • 1.3.2 Aerial perspective (p. 29)
  • 1.3.3 The impact of climate change (p. 31)
  • 1.3.4 The impact of air pollution (p. 33)
  • 1.4 Clouds and weather (p. 36)
  • 1.4.1 A brief history of cloud classification (p. 37)
  • 1.4.2 The colour of clouds (p. 39)
  • 1.4.3 Cloud perspective (p. 40)
  • 1.4.4 Influence of weather on sky and landscape colours (p. 41)
  • 1.4.5 The portrayal of wind (p. 42)
  • 1.5 Light, the sun, rainbows and other optical effects (p. 43)
  • 1.5.1 Sunlight and the colour of the sun (p. 44)
  • 1.5.2 Light and other optical effects (p. 44)
  • 1.5.3 The rainbow (p. 46)
  • 1.6 Of truth of skies (p. 48)
  • Chapter 2 John Constable's meteorological understanding (p. 51)
  • 2.1 Constable's art and science (p. 51)
  • 2.2 Weather in Constable's skies (p. 52)
  • 2.3 Constable's training as a windmiller (p. 53)
  • 2.4 Hampstead Heath (p. 55)
  • 2.5 Constable's letters (p. 56)
  • 2.6 The inscriptions to the sky studies of 1820/22 (p. 58)
  • 2.6.1 The month of painting (p. 59)
  • 2.6.2 The hour of painting (p. 64)
  • 2.6.3 References to past weather (p. 65)
  • 2.6.4 References to future weather (p. 65)
  • 2.6.5 Quoted wind direction (p. 66)
  • 2.6.6 Quoted wind speed (p. 66)
  • 2.6.7 Quoted direction of view (p. 66)
  • 2.6.8 Summary of interpretations of the 1820/22 sky study weather inscriptions (p. 67)
  • 2.7 Constable's annotations to Forster's book (p. 68)
  • 2.8 Copies of Cozens' skies and other drawings (p. 79)
  • 2.9 Constable's enigmatic rainbow (p. 80)
  • 2.10 English Landscape Scenery (p. 89)
  • Chapter 3 Evolution of the skies in Constable's art (p. 93)
  • 3.1 Dawn in the valley 1776-98: calm (p. 95)
  • 3.2 Sunrise 1799-1812: light air (p. 95)
  • 3.3 Morning 1812-16: slight breeze (p. 103)
  • 3.4 Late morning 1817-20: gentle breeze (p. 109)
  • 3.5 High noon 1821-22: moderate breeze (p. 116)
  • 3.6 Afternoon 1823-28: fresh breeze (p. 126)
  • 3.7 Sunset 1829-32: strong breeze (p. 136)
  • 3.8 The valley in shadow 1833-37: near gale (p. 143)
  • Chapter 4 The influence of art and science on Constable's skies (p. 153)
  • 4.1 A brief history of skies in landscape art (p. 154)
  • 4.2 From the beginnings of art to the end of the sixteenth century (p. 154)
  • 4.3 The painted skies of the seventeenth century (p. 161)
  • 4.3.1 Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) (p. 162)
  • 4.3.2 Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) (p. 164)
  • 4.3.3 Claude Lorrain (1600-82) (p. 166)
  • 4.3.4 Rembrandt (Harmensz van Rijn) (1606-69) (p. 168)
  • 4.3.5 Salvator Rosa (1615-73) (p. 169)
  • 4.3.6 Aelbert Cuyp (1620-91) (p. 170)
  • 4.3.7 Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29-82) (p. 170)
  • 4.3.8 Philips Koninck (1619-88), Meyndert Hobbema (1638-1709) and Willem van de Velde (1633-1707) (p. 175)
  • 4.4 Eighteenth-century skies in England Richard Wilson (1713/14-82), Alexander Cozens (1717-86), Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88) and Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) (p. 176)
  • 4.5 Nineteenth-century skies Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) (p. 179)
  • 4.6 Johan Christian Dahl (1788-1857) and the Dresden School (p. 184)
  • 4.7 Landscape painting, artistic style, science and skies (p. 185)
  • 4.8 Meteorological science through the eyes of Luke Howard (p. 188)
  • 4.9 John Ruskin and the role of skies in landscape painting (p. 191)
  • Chapter 5 A fusion of art and science (p. 202)
  • Appendix 1 Towards an accurate dating of certain of John Constable's sky studies 1820/22 (p. 202)
  • Appendix 2 Sky studies without weather inscriptions attributed to John Constable (p. 275)
  • Appendix 3 Transcript of the letter from John Constable to the Revd. John Fisher, 23 October 1821 (p. 278)
  • Bibliography (p. 283)
  • Index (p. 286)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

John E. Thornes is a Reader in Applied Meteorology and Director of the Atmospheric Impacts Research Group within the School of Geography and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham.

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