Page:Bryan's dictionary of painters and engravers, volume 1.djvu/488

 Academy ; amongst the most noted may be mentioned 'Salisbury Cathedral,' and 'The Valley Farm,' (known as Willy Lott's House,) situated on the Stour near Flatford Mill.

Constable published in 1830-32 a set of mezzo- tint engravings of ' English Landscapes,' by David Lucas, from pictures painted by himself, " The subjects of all the plates are taken from real places ; they are mostly rural, and are meant particularly to characterise the scenery of England." He also gave numerous lectures on the study of nature, and occasionally painted in water-colour. Constable died suddenly in Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, London, on the 1st of April, 1837. His ' Memoirs,' composed chiefly of his letters, were published by C. R. Leslie, R.A., in 1843, and again with additions in 1845. The first edition contains the plates by Lucas of ' English Landscapes.' He was one of the deceased painters who were represented in the London International Exhibition of 1874, when the following pictures by him were lent for exhibition :

The Embarcation of George IV. from Whitehall on the occasion of the opening of Waterloo Bridge. Dedham Farm. The Hay Wain. The Leaping Horse. Englefield House. The Valley of the Stour. A Dell in Helmingham Park; besides numerous sketcbes for his other well-known works. The following are his principal works in public galleries: London. Sational Gall. The Cornfield (or Country Lane), painted in 1826. „ The Valley Farm (Willy Lott's House). „ „ „ The Hay- Wain. „ „ „ A Cornfield with figures. „ „ „ Barnes Common. „ S. Kensington Salisbury Cathedral (signid and dated 1823). „ „ „ Dedham Mill (signed and dated 1820). „ „ „ Hampstead Heath {exhibited at the Moiial Academy in 1827). „ „ „ Hampstead Heath {exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1830). „ „ „ Boat-Building, near Flatford Mill. „ „ „ Water Meadows, near Salisbury. Paris, louvre. The Cottage. „ „ The Rainbow (with a view of Salisbury), a sketch. „ „ Weymouth Bay. 1827. „ „ View of Hampstead Heath {a sketch). „ „ The Glebe Farm.

CONSTANT, Jean Joseph Benjamin, was bom in Paris in 1845, studied at the Beaux-Arts, and then entered the atelier of M. Cabanel. His first picture was hung in the Salon in 1869 before he was twenty-four years old, and was called ' Hamlet et le Roi.' Since that time down to the very year of his death he was hardly ever absent from the great Parisian Exhibition. Probably no French artist has attracted more attention than M. Constant, or has had his work so minutely studied, and his methods more frequently copied by his compatriots. He was for years the master of the modern French school, and could never complain that his country- men failed to appreciate him. Amongst his notable works are ' Trop Tard ' (1870), 'Samson et Delilah' (1871), 'Femmes en Riff,' 'Boucher Maures a Tanger,' ' Coin de Rue,' ' Carrefour k Tanger,' ' Prisonniers Marocains,' ' Femmes de Harem k Maroc' all studies of life in Morocco, a country of semi-barbarism which appealed to his imagination ; ' La Vengeance du Ch^rif,' another Oriental subject (1885), 'Judith' and ' Justinian ' (1886), 'Orphee' and 'Theodora' (1887), 'Pope Urban II. entering Toulouse,' ' Beethoven,' ' Victrix,' and others. In addition to all these subject pictures he was an eminent painter of portraits, and by them his re- nown in England and America has been chiefly produced. He painted Qaeen Victoria, Queen Alexandra, the Pope (Leo XIII.), the Duo d'Aumale, the Marquis of DufTerin, Lady Hel^ii Vincent, the Duchess of Marlborough, and M. Hanotaux. Two of his best portraits, those of Lord Savile and M. de Blowitz, were upon the walls of the Salon in 1902 when he died ; that of Queen Alexandra having been exhibited in the previous year. He was largely influenced in his technique by a careful study of the work of Gainsborough, and his paintings show evident signs of an entire change of method after the works of the English school first attracted hia attention. His aim was in all cases to produce a single well-balanced harmony of light and colour. Few of his portraits received such an excess of criticism as the one of Queen Victoria which appeared at the Royal Academy in 1900. Its stately but unaffected grandeur was very attractive, but the somewhat over-strained sentiment did not appeal to English critics. There is no doubt that at times his lighting was too artificial and almost garish, and his colour false, and these qualities were discovered in this celebrated portrait, and were vehemently pointed out by many writers. The portrait will, however, remain noteworthy as a majestic con- ception grandly presented on canvas. Constant was greatly afl'ected by the death of his son in 1899, and never quite recovered from the blow. In 1901 he caught an acute attack of influenza in Scotland, and from the effect of this died in May 1902. He had painted many decorative canvases for public buildings in Paris, especially at the Hotel de Ville and Opdra Comique, and was at the very last engaged in setting out a new and even more important work of this sort. He was a member of the Institute of France, and Commander of the Legion of Honour. Q. C. W,

CONSTANTIN, Abraham, a Swiss enamel painter, was born at Geneva in 1785. He became a pupil of Gerard, after whom he executed many works on porcelain, including portraits of the King of Rome, Charles X., and the Emperor of Russia. He was attached to the manufactory at Sfevres, and died at Geneva after 1851.

CONSTAXTIN, Jean Antoine, a landscape painter, who also etched, was born at Bonneveine, near Marseilles, in 1756. An enamel painter, dis- cerning his talent, found him employment in painting porcelain, an occupation which he quitted to get lessons at Marseilles from Kapeller the elder and David of Marseilles. From that city an amateur took hira to Aix, and arranged for his going to Rome, where he worked hard for six years. On his return to Aix he became the director of the School of Design. He exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1817 to 1831. Many of his paintings and a thousand drawings and etchings by him are in the Museum at Aix, where he died in 1844.

CONSTANTIN, Joseph Sebastien, the son of Jean Antoine Constantin, and also a landscape painter, was born at Aix in 1793. He lost his sight, and died in the hospital of Bicetre in 1864.

CONSTANTINI, Giovanni Battista, (or Con-