A Kingdom of his Own

John Constable

The first biography of John Constable (1776-1837), the quintessentially English landscape painter, since 1843.

Bailey performs the chronicler's task with a novelist's heart, which is why he is the pleasing biographer that he is... A picture slowly emerges of a reactionary who became a revolutionary by default... It's a picture I find utterly convincing

As with his earlier book on Vermeer, Bailey's genius lies in finding a literary equivalent for his subject's style. He doesn't just describe Constable's pictures, he writes them, each spare word like a stroke of the artist's brush... lovely

[Bailey] has lifted the lids on all the pies, pulled out the plums and served them up in a different and toothsome order... Judicious.  The portrait that emerges is rounded, attractive and entertaining

If, for you, the joy of reading is being absorbed into another world, this elegant and detailed life of painter John Constable, the first since 1843, will not disappoint.  Anthony's style is deceptively cool, almost unobtrusive... This sensitive book resonates with respect and admiration, treating the man with humanity and demolishing for ever the "chocolate box" frivolity surrounding Constable's name and work

The more one gets to know him, the more loveable Constable becomes - curmudgeonly, cantankerous, melancholy and anxiety-ridden though he was

Like his subject, Anthony Bailey has the great qualities of unobtrusiveness and sensitivity, letting things emerge organically rather than forcing his own imprint upon them. And also like Constable, he has an instinct for the details that can bring an entire canvas to life

Anthony Bailey has won high praise for his books about artists: two idiosyncratic studies of Rembrandt, a much admired biography of Turner, and his masterpiece about Vermeer. He lives in Essex.

Born in 1776 in East Anglia near the river Stour, John Constable was destined for his father's business of milling and grain-shipping. But he was obdurately opposed to this and persuaded his family he should become an artist instead. In the same determined spirit, he wooed Maria Bicknell in the teeth of opposition from her formidable grandfather, and persisted in painting landscapes at a time when history paintings and portraits were the fashion. <br/>
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Sometimes sharp and sarcastic, and often depressed, Constable in fact possessed a warm gift for intimate friendship. This is revealed in his letters to John Dunthorne, village handyman and housepainter, and to his best friend and patron, archdeacon John Fisher, to whom he wrote: 'I have a kingdom of my own, both fertile and populous - my landscape and my children'. <br/>
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In recent times, after a period of relative ignominy, Constable's influence on British landscape painting has been re-acknowledged, he has been more widely exhibited and his reputation has been reestablished as one of the masters of his genre. This important and absorbing biography explores his life and work, and highlights the dramatic tension between the two.

Anthony Bailey

A delightful compilation of oblique reflections and partial views, bringing Vermeer to life through the place and the time in which he worked

Bailey carries us back into the daily life and atmosphere of seventeenth-century Delft

Vermeer has always been considered the most elusive of great artists, but this book tracks him down in his home town.  It takes the reader back to seventeenth-century Delft, in a piece of historical writing that does justice to its now timeless subject. Anthony Bailey makes use of the scholarly research that has accumulated in the last century, as well as recent findings, and then reaches beyond these facts to expose the hidden Vermeer.  The result is a vivid, convincing portrait of the Protestant innkeeper's son who married a prosperous Catholic girl and had 15 children of whom 11 survived.  Vermeer died relatively young and left fewer than 40 pictures. Many of these pictures are indeed masterpieces, and Anthony Bailey examines the scientific expertise which lies behind their calm mystery.  He introduces us to Vermeer's colleagues and fellow-citizens, and charts his celebrity as it slowly spread out of Holland and encompassed the world.  He examines Vermeer's effect on many creative and destructive people, including Proust and Hitler. A View of Delft is a highly original attempt to get at Vermeer's life and personality, by setting him imaginatively in the context of Delft, its culture and history.

Anthony Bailey

Praise for A View Of Delft

A delightful compilation of oblique reflections and partial views, bringing Vermeer to life through the place and the time in which he worked

Engaging and highly readable

Bailey carries us back into the daily life and atmosphere of seventeenth-century Delft

A delightful compilation of oblique reflections and partial views, bringing Vermeer to life through the place and the time in which he worked

Engaging and highly readable

Bailey carries us back into the daily life and atmosphere of seventeenth-century Delft

A delightful compilation of oblique reflections and partial views, bringing Vermeer to life through the place and the time in which he worked

Engaging and highly readable

Bailey carries us back into the daily life and atmosphere of seventeenth-century Delft

Books by Anthony Bailey

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