A suite of paintings that respond to cloud studies and small landscapes by John Constable (1776-1837) will be installed in the galleries of the permanent collection on the fourth floor. Mark Leonard, a renowned restorer with a long history of treating paintings, including works by John Constable, has created eleven paintings in direct dialogue with Constable works in the Center’s collection. For this project, Leonard has turned away from his usual practice of caring for and restoring paintings by other artists and has instead set himself the challenge of creating his own autonomous works of art. As someone who has spent decades looking at and studying the work of other artists, stroke by stroke and layer by layer, Leonard has searched for the underlying geometries, or the “natural framework” in Constable’s seemingly unstructured paintings of sky and landscape. The resulting paintings will be displayed in a one-to-one relationship with works by Constable that inspired Leonard. This unique installation will allow visitors to study the Constables in a new light, and also to appreciate Leonard’s rigorously structured and highly detailed paintings.
