Turner & Constable: Rivals & Originals | Tate Britain
This large exhibition is a light remix of the Tate’s vast holdings of both artists’ works. But it feels churlish to complain about that, given Turner and Constable’s importance in our national story.
Everyone will have a preference, and Constable’s my favourite of the two - a view shared by both Bridget Riley and George Shaw, according to a film accompanying the show! So it was a thrill to see a couple of important Constable loans from American collections, supplementing the Tate-owned works: The White Horse from the Frick in New York and Stoke-by-Nayland, visiting from Chicago.
The artists knew each other well, as frenemies. They frequently did battle at the Royal Academy’s annual exhibition, with spectacular large works placed close to each other. A review in Englishman’s Magazine for the 1831 show paid tribute to “Turner’s fire and Constable’s rain”.
Characteristics that appear in the works again and again. Turner’s imagination so often turned to the semi-abstract celestial play of sunlight and firelight. Constable was always grounded in the mulchy soil, dark branches and low light of his native land.
JMW Turner, ‘The Sun Rising over Water’ (c. 1825-30)
We can see this in the large canvases prepared for the RA. It’s there in the sketches too. During my visit, I focused on a pair: one from each artist. Turner’s luminous, uninhibited watercolour sketch of the sun (pictured above) is tiny, dashed off, a genius gesture. The single point of light in the middle seems like a focal point to introspection.
While Turner conceived and executed these imaginative scenes in his studio, Constable worked outside. In the early 1820s he had a burst of activity sketching clouds. He said his skies were the “key note” in his landscapes. He aimed for rapidness and authenticity (rapidness being necessary, given our unpredictable weather). He tended record the time of day on the back of the sketches, and the weather - our national obsession.
John Constable, ‘Cloud Study’ (1822)
I sat on a bench for a long time, looking at the study pictured above. The Tate’s archive tells us this one was inscribed by the artist in pencil on the original backing paper, now separately preserved: ‘27 augt 11, o clock Noon looking Eastward large silvery [? Clouds] wind Gentle at S. West’.’
What mystery and style is contained on the other side of that paper. Despite the stiff competition, I’m still with Bridget and George.
Turner & Constable: Rivals & Originals is at Tate Britain (London). 27 November 2025 - 12 April 2026