In 1819, Constable exhibited the first of his monumental "six-footers,"
canvases which he hoped would attract attention. His previous works
had been small compositions, now he wanted to enter the great tradition
of European landscapes. Constable entitled this work, "A scene on the
River Stour," but its first owner renamed the masterpiece, The White
Horse. It shows a flat-barge crossing the river just below Flatford
Mill, at a point where the tow-path switched sides. Two men are pushing
against into the current with long poles, while in the aft of the
boat the horse, which will be used to pull the boat, stands
patiently.
This picture is a wonderful representation of the soggy lands of the
Stour, the decaying houses, the hard-working inhabitants. Although
another painter might have painted all this poverty as an indictment,
as a failure, Constable celebrates it with joyful exhuberance. Look at
that remarkable tree in the right center, growing on a tiny piece of
land which is crumbling into the river. That tree has no right to be
there, but it is flourishing! Critics have sometimes charged
Constable with nostalgia, painting a world that was rapidly
disappearing. But if so, it is gorgeous nostalgia.
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