Not you again: Turner and Constable face-off
Recreation of moment in 1831 that led to the celebrated pair rowing over position of paintings
WHEN, in 1831, two paintings by JMW Turner and John Constable were hung together at the Royal Academy, it caused a colourful row between the two great artists. Turner, the more established artist, accused his rival of putting his own painting in the best position.
Now, Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows and Turner’s
Caligula’s Palace and Bridge have been reunited at Tate Britain – still with Constable’s work in prime spot.
The two masterpieces are being exhibited in the same room after Constable’s painting, acquired by Tate in 2013 for £23.1 million, returned permanently after a five-year tour of Britain, having been seen by almost a million people. The 1831 exhibition saw Constable named the Royal Academy’s “hang man”, giving him responsibility for arranging the paintings for the summer show that was critical for showcasing new work.
He had originally placed his Salisbury Cathedral on the most prestigious wall, along with two works by Turner:
Caligula’s Palace in the very centre, and Vision of Medea to the other side.
Before the exhibition opened, how- ever, he made the last-minute decision to swap, putting his own offering centre stage.
The change, which went unannounced until the exhibition opened, infuriated Turner, with contemporary accounts of a fiery dinner party exchange between the two. Turner “slew Constable without remorse”, it is recorded, while his rival insisted he only exchanged the painting for the good of both artists.
Dr David Blayney Brown, the curator, said visitors would be “very excited” to see the paintings, adding that he hoped the sense of recreating their original hang would give “insight into what previous generations thought or felt when they saw them”.
Saying the artists had indulged in “good-humoured sparring” as part of their ongoing professional competition, he explained: “At a late stage, shortly before exhibition opened, Constable sidelines Turner’s [painting] and put his own work in the middle. He didn’t tell Turner, who wasn’t entirely pleased. Rather unfortunately, they had both been invited to the same dinner party shortly afterwards.”
Constable, he said, insisted he was “only studying the best arrangement”, telling Turner: “I did it all for your sake because it looks better this way.” Dr Blayney Brown added: “It’s perfectly clear that they do look better ... so you can see that Constable has a point.”