John Constable, in addition to his full-scale…
1824 CE
John Constable, in addition to his full-scale oil sketches, completes numerous observational studies of landscapes and clouds, determined to become more scientific in his recording of atmospheric conditions.
The sketches themselves are the first ever done in oils directly from the subject in the open air.
To convey the effects of light and movement, Constable uses broken brushstrokes, often in small touches, which he scumbles over lighter passages, creating an impression of sparkling light enveloping the entire landscape.
One of the most expressionistic and powerful of all his studies is Seascape Study with Rain Cloud, painted about 1824 at Brighton, which captures with slashing dark brushstrokes the immediacy of an exploding cumulus shower at sea.