In this painting, a boat waits to enter a lock before moving upstream as threatening rainclouds pass overhead. John Constable captures a momentary weather condition, which animates the painting and dramatises the figure of the lock keeper with his red jacket silhouetted against the horizon. Constable was fascinated by cloud formations and the play of light on the landscape.The central figure, a man in a red waistcoat holding a large crowbar, is working the mechanism which will open the lower gate and let the water rush in from the lock into the river. Constable wrote to his friend a few years before making this work, “The sound of water escaping from mill-dams, etc., willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts, and brickwork, I love such things…”
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How can I get a digital file of "A Boat passing a Lock" by John Constable Reeve?
"A Boat passing a Lock" is available as a high-resolution digital image download, purchased directly on its Digital Image page.
Can I examine "A Boat passing a Lock" in more detail?
"A Boat passing a Lock" can be examined layer by layer on the artwork's X-Ray page, a viewer inspired by a conservator's light bench with eleven optical readings of the image.
Is "A Boat passing a Lock" free of copyright?
"A Boat passing a Lock" by John Constable Reeve is still protected by copyright. This status governs how the image of the work may be reproduced.
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