John Constable. Landscapes of the Soul

A master who, together with Turner, is the greatest exponent of English Romantic painting, John Constable is the protagonist of an exhibition that recounts and chronologically retraces the entire artistic career of the famous painter through the works of the Tate, UK.

The exhibition route consists of a sixty works, ranging from sketches and small paintings made en plein air, in an early Impressionist manner, to the most important and vast romantic landscapes, such as the famous view of Stratford Mill, depicting places in the immediate vicinity of his native village, Dedham Vale, in the county of Suffolk. Places of affection, sentimentally important for this great artist who, unlike his colleague Turner, a great traveller, never left his beloved England and depicted Nature in a "picturesque" key, to use the famous terminology from the Aesthetics of the philosopher Immanuel Kant.

Thus distinguishing himself from Turner, painting the 'Sublime' or a Nature that fascinates, but also instils fear and even terror in Man, such as a sea storm, or a blizzard, Constable depicts instead a cosy nature, reassuring, in which one can relax, fall asleep serenely. Indeed, Constable concentrated on painting places closely associated with his life and family circumstances. Places emblematic for the history of his 'affections', as his principal biographer C. R. Leslie wrote.

The exhibition also includes works by artists contemporary with Constable, and in some cases, competitors, such as Turner, John Linnell, Benjamin West and others whose work intertwines and compares with Constable's.

The Tate, UK holds the world's most important collection of Constable's work. The exhibition spans the entire chronological span of his production and includes landscapes, drawings, watercolours, etchings and portraits. After this stop at the Reggia di Venaria, the works will return to the Tate Museum and will not be seen outside England for a long time.