John Constable was the first English painter to paint directly from nature in the open air, and the first to paint foliage really green. He was a painter whose brush seems to have responded with a perception of its own in accord with the artist's mood. There is an evident difference between the early years of search and fulfillment, when he painted in a happy mood, and the later years of his life when the same motifs were reinterpreted in slashing brushwork in his years of despondency following the death of his wife, Maria. He suffered from much insecurity during the years of struggle for recognition. He became both rich and famous, without serious money problems, but he became more withdrawn, pessimistic and racked with doubts as to ...