Celebrate 250 years of John Constable’s landscapes and legacy, including a visit to the special anniversary exhibition at Christchurch Mansion
Be immersed in the Suffolk countryside, walking through the iconic scenes of Constable's paintings that have changed little over two centuries
Visit Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury, following an award-winning major redevelopment to transform the site into a new National Centre for Gainsborough
“I have never experienced as much content that I really learned from, and delivered with such enthusiasm and joy, as I experienced with Sarah”
– ACE customer on a previous tour led by Sarah Burles
Join ACE as we celebrate 250 years of the landscapes and legacy of John Constable, one of Britain's most illustrious painters, alongside the magnificent work of fellow artist Thomas Gainsborough. For this monumental anniversary, we are pleased to be visiting the specially curated exhibition at Christchurch Mansion entitled ‘Constable: Walking the landscape’ which will feature works on loan from the Tate, V&A, Royal Academy and the National Galleries of Scotland, many of which will be displayed in Suffolk for the first time. Exploring Suffolk’s picturesque countryside on foot will afford us a unique opportunity to study its influence on Constable, the paintings of his near contemporary Gainsborough, and the development of the British landscape tradition.
“I fancy I see Gainsborough in every hedge and hollow tree,” said Constable of the Suffolk countryside. As we wander along the banks of the River Stour, where Constable spent his “careless boyhood”, we will discover that Flatford Mill, Dedham Lock and Willy Lott’s cottage – immortalised in The Hay Wain – have changed little over two centuries. We will stroll through the country lanes of East Bergholt, where the artist’s first studio was located, and view his Ascension in Dedham’s parish church.
As our tour continues we will immerse ourselves further in Constable’s 250 year history with a coach tour of Stour Valley, encountering the Parish Church of Stratford St Mary, an edifice that he painted many times. St James’s Church will also feature, where we can see Constable’s altarpiece Christ blesses the bread and wine painted in 1809. The backdrop of this memorable anniversary will create a particularly poignant atmosphere when walking through the locations that inspired Constable and viewing his paintings in situ.
Complementing the focus on Constable, our tour will also examine Gainsborough’s roots in his native Suffolk on a visit to the market town of Sudbury. Here, a major redevelopment and refurbishment has recently transformed the artist’s former house into a National Centre for Gainsborough, winning the prestigious RIBA East Building of the Year Award in 2024. The collection is also the largest gallery in Suffolk, presenting a dedicated insight into Gainsborough’s life and works that we will contextualise for ourselves when walking through the quaint village streets.
We will stay at the four-star Hintlesham Hall Hotel, a comfortable and traditionally decorated hotel occupying a 16th century Grade I listed manor house, set in 175 acres of Suffolk countryside. The hall has historical links to Gainsborough: it was purchased in 1747 by Sir Richard Lloyd, one of the artist’s early patrons, making it a fitting base for our tour.
For this monumental anniversary, we are pleased to be visiting the exhibition ‘Constable: Walking the landscape’ at Christchurch Mansion which will feature his most celebrated painting, The Haywain, alongside works on loan from the Tate, V&A, Royal Academy and the National Galleries of Scotland, many of which will be displayed in Suffolk for the very first time.
Sarah Burles
Sarah is an accredited Arts Society lecturer with a passion for making museums and their collections accessible.
This tour will be led by Sarah Burles, MA who studied History of Art at Cambridge before gaining a Masters at University College London and going onto a career in museum and gallery education, including 12 years at the Fitzwilliam Museum. Sarah is an accredited lecturer for the Arts Society.
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£1495
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