John Constable’s Four Seasons
Art historian Susan Owens's exquisitely illustrated new book narrates the painter’s story through his relationship to weather, place, and time.
Dozens of books have been written about the British landscape painter John Constable since his death in 1837, including three major biographies published just last year. Yet a new account by art historian Susan Owens, formerly a curator of paintings at the Victoria and Albert Museum, takes a fresh and engaging approach to the renowned 19th-century painter and his work, encouraging us to reconsider his life and landscapes.
Constable’s Year: An Artist in Changing Seasons (2026) tells his story through his extraordinary relationship to weather, place, and time. Owens’s book bucks the usual chronological format, instead dividing Constable’s experiences and artworks into chapters based on the spring, summer, fall, and winter periods that defined his life. Her exquisitely illustrated book — which features a wealth of the artist’s lush paintings and breathtaking but rarely seen sketches — convincingly argues that Constable’s deep connection to the land doesn’t just set him apart from his peers; it also keeps his work relevant today.
