# Stoke-by-Nayland

**John Constable** (English, 1776–1837)  
1836  
Oil on canvas  
126 × 169 cm (49 5/8 × 66 1/2 in.); Framed: 170.2 × 212.1 × 16.6 cm (67 × 83 1/2 × 6 1/2 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.4453. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/4758).

## About this work

John Constable produced this full-size oil sketch for an unrealized painting near the end of his life. Its subject—the countryside of Constable's youth in Suffolk, England—was one of the artist's favorites. To achieve the effect of sparkling wetness and fresh earth and air, Constable painted with a palette knife, flecking the surface with white highlights as he sketched and scraped the picture into existence.

_Text from the Art Institute of Chicago._

John Constable painted this in 1836, aged 60. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

Large English country landscape painting, farmers with horses, green trees.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [John Constable](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/john-constable)

English, 1776–1837

Constable painted the countryside of his native Suffolk, especially the Stour valley around his father’s mills, with an attention to weather and light new to English art. Recognition came slowly; he made full-size oil sketches for his large “six-footers”, and The White Horse won him associate membership of the Royal Academy. He made many of his cloud studies on Hampstead Heath in the early 1820s, and The Hay Wain was admired in France when shown at the Paris Salon of 1824.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: England
- The artist was 60
- Real size: about 50 × 67 in (126 × 169 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 30 × 40 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: landscapes, gates, countryside, Century of Progress, world's fairs, Chicago World's Fairs, ploughs, wagons
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/7.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/7/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/stoke-by-nayland-aic-4758).