Artwork
A Windmill near Brighton
A Windmill near Brighton is an oil painting by the Romanticist artist John Constable. It dates from 1826 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
A Windmill near Brighton is an oil painting by John Constable, created over the course of five years.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a windmill, a subject familiar to Constable due to his father's ownership of one. The work is influenced by a Dutch painting, The Mill, once attributed to Rembrandt.
Technique & Style
Constable admired The Mill's use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses strong contrasts between light and dark. He noted how the last rays of light highlighted the upper sail of the mill, while other details were subsumed by shadow.
Artist & collection
Artist
John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition.
