JOHN CONSTABLE : “The white horse”, 1819, oil on canvas, 131.4- 188.3 cm. - New York, Frick Collection.

John Constable (1776-1837) is, with Joseph Mallord William Turner, the great figure of the English romanticism. Unlike his contemporary, he never left England, and he devoted all his time to represent the life and landscapes of his loved England. This self-imposed limitation did not prevent him from develop a highly personal style that had an important influence in the Barbizon School.

“A calm, gray summer morning”: with these words described John Constable his painting “The white horse”, a sensational chronicle of the life in rural England Although most of the critics consider “The hay wain” as Constable's masterpiece, there is little doubt that “The white horse” his favourite and most loved work. In fact, Constable himself affirmed that “there is, in the artist's entire life, one, perhaps two or even three paintings in which one puts a special interest: here is the mine”. This painting supposed the Constable's first great success, and his admission in the Real Academy of the Art.