Monet and London

NO TROUBLE AT MILL Flatford Mill and left, Willy Lott’s cottage still stand

Constable and Suffolk The Hay Wain, 1821

John Constable’s father owned Flatford Mill, in Dedham Vale, Suffolk, and the artist took many subjects from the bucolic immediate surroundings, particularly the Mill itself and Willy Lott’s 17th century cottage, seen on the left side of the painting.

He took great pleasure in detailing the sumptuous tapestry of the British countryside on enormous canvases, and even postponed his marriage for a month until this one was finished. TODAY: Many of the key ingredients of Constable’s best known paintings are still at Flatford – the mill and its pond on the River Stour, plus Willy Lott’s cottage, but minus the horse and cart. Dedham itself – across the border in Essex – has a pristine row of neo-classical houses opposite the church, just as it did in his day.

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The Thames below Westminster, 1870

French Impressionist Monet spent a couple of years in London during the Franco-prussian war and painted around Westminster Bridge.

Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and the Embankment, all key parts of the paintings, were pretty new then, so he was recording what was effectively the modern skyline. TODAY: Half close your eyes and it doesn’t look that different, although there are no steamships, the river traffic is much reduced, and the air not so soupy. However, you’d probably not linger long at the artist’s viewpoint, thanks to road traffic.

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