CONSTABLE AND HIS PREDECESSORS
Nearly three quarters of a century have elapsed since Constable's death. During that period his reputation has increased enormously, not only because there has been time for his artistic powers to be fairly appraised, but also because he is generally recognised as the parent of modern landscape. So far has this feeling been carried that there is even a tendency to speak as if Constable's aim was practically the same as that of our contemporary painters; as if his departure from the tradition of the old masters was final and absolute. Several of the artist's sayings might be quoted in support of such a theory. Nevertheless in the admirable Lectures on Landscape, delivered towards the close of his life, and therefore, it may be presumed, representing his mature thoughts on the subject, Constable shows a remarkable acquaintance with the spirit and technical methods of his fore-runners, and a no less remarkable reverence for the results they obtained. The influence of the past, however, is not apparent, at first sight, in his large pictures, for they are undeniably modern in outward aspect. Yet, if his achievement is considered in chronological sequence, a definite connection with older traditions seems to become more and more visible; till at last one begins to feel as if that connection was the real secret of Constable's success. Before entering upon such an inquiry, it is necessary to understand quite clearly what the ancient tradition of landscape was.
When the revival of the arts in Europe had progressed so far that painters were no longer content to set their figures against a background of gilding or flat colour, the effort to represent persons in their natural surroundings brought landscape into existence. In the work of the primitives of Italy and the Low Countries we are constantly meeting with delicate renderings of
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