CONSTABLES YEAR (HB)

As exhilarating as a lungful of oxygen, that’s how some of his contemporaries felt about John Constable’s paintings. Others, though, were baffled by his uncompromisingly fresh and realistic treatment of the natural world. Susan Owens follows Constable through the seasons, tracing the rhythms and resonances of the artist’s year to offer a vivid, unconventional perspective on this beloved figure. Though today he is often considered a traditional artist, in truth John Constable was a radical.