‘I love every stile, and stump, and lane… as long as I am able to hold a brush I shall never cease to paint them’ - John Constable
The beautiful landscape of Constable Country in North Essex captivates thousands of visitors each year and it is easy to see why John Constable was inspired to paint some of England’s best loved pictures. Ramble along the River Stour in the heart of Constable Country, where he worked his rustic idylls beneath the vast East Anglian skies, and it’s easy to see why generations of artists since have been inspired in much the same way.
‘I love every stile, and stump, and lane… as long as I am able to hold a brush I shall never cease to paint them’ - John Constable
Ramble along the River Stour in the heart of Constable Country, where he worked his rustic idylls beneath the vast East Anglian skies, and it’s easy to see why generations of artists since have been inspired in much the same way.
Essex - a painter’s paradise
Painting by John Constable
Painting by Sir Alfred Munnings
Painting by Julia Tanner
Painting by Trevor Show
Painting by Susan Allen
Painting by Simon Feather
A journey in search of Essex artists will take you around much of the county. Like Constable, Sir Alfred Munnings was a prolific painter. He painted with great vigour and his works are full of life, colour and movement capturing his much loved equestrian world. His home, Castle House in Dedham, has a superb collection which you can visit, you can even stroll around his studio and relax in The Garden Café.
From the 1930s through to the 1950s, Essex was home to a famous colony of artists who lived in and around the village of Great Bardfield. Best known of them was Edward Bawden for his copper engravings of the swirling countryside. The artistic tradition continues today with galleries throughout the county honouring well-known names alongside fresh home-grown talent and a growing list of art trails in hotspots like Leigh-on-Sea and Burnham-on-Crouch allowing a fascinating insight into the creative process at work. As our art heritage has diversified, so too have the ways in which art is displayed, with historic structures like Naze Tower and Jaywick’s Martello Tower put to new use as innovative artistic spaces, and Britain’s oldest recorded town, Colchester, becoming home to its newest and most sensational arts venue, the golden-clad firstsite.
A journey in search of Essex artists will take you around much of the county. Like Constable, Sir Alfred Munnings was a prolific painter. He painted with great vigour and his works are full of life, colour and movement capturing his much loved equestrian world. His home, Castle House in Dedham, has a superb collection which you can visit, you can even stroll around his studio and relax in The Garden Café.
Artistic Inspirations
A fantastic project with historic recordings relevant to each location that have been digitised and catalogued in the Essex Record Office archive, and then shared with the public at the press of a button on each bench!
