2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of John Constable （1776—1837）， a Romantic painter from Britain. Along with J. M. W. Turner， Constable revolutionized landscape painting of the 19th century and his paintings had a profound and far-reaching effect on European art， particularly in France.

2026年是英国浪漫主义画家约翰·康斯特布尔（1776—1837）诞辰250周年。康斯特布尔的画对欧洲，特别是法国画坛产生了深远影响，他与J. M. W. 透纳一起，彻底改变了19世纪的风景画创作。

Constable was born and raised in East Bergholt， England to a relatively wealthy corn merchant. Though he was the second son， his older brother had an intellectual disability， so John was expected to take over the family business.

康斯特布尔出生并成长在英格兰东伯格霍尔特一个相对富裕的谷物商之家。虽然他是次子，但由于他哥哥智力发育不全，父母希望他将来能接管家族生意。

In his formative years， Constable took sketching trips around the surrounding countryside， and this is when he fell in love with art. He was able to convince his father to let him pursue art as a career. Though nature and landscapes were his passion， Constable did a number of portrait paintings to support his family. In England， he only ever sold 20 paintings during his lifetime. His art was much more popular in France where his paintings sold well. However， Constable never wanted to travel saying “I would rather be a poor man in England than a rich man abroad”.

在成长的岁月里，康斯特布尔经常在周围的乡野旅行写生，就是这时候他爱上了绘画。他想办法说服父亲让他追求绘画艺术并以此为业。康斯特布尔虽然喜爱自然和风景，但为养家糊口也画了不少肖像画。在英国，他生前只卖出了20幅画。他的作品在法国更受欢迎，卖得很好。然而，康斯特布尔从未想过出国，他表示，“我宁愿在英国做穷人，也不在国外当富人”。

When he was 40， Constable married his childhood friend， Maria Bicknell and the two enjoyed a very happy marriage. Shortly after she birthed their seventh child， Maria got infected with tuberculosis and died at the young age of 41. Her sudden death was devastating to Constable， who wrote to his brother， “hourly do I feel the loss of my departed Angel—God only knows how my children will be brought up… the face of the World is totally changed to me”.

40岁时，康斯特布尔迎娶了青梅竹马的女友玛丽亚·比克内尔，两人的婚姻非常幸福。