The White Horse
1819 · Oil on canvas · The Frick Collection, New York
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About this work
- Artist
- John Constable (1776–1837)
- Year
- 1819
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 131.4 × 188.3 cm
- Collection
- The Frick Collection, New York
- Movement
- Romanticism
A barge carries a tow-horse across the River Stour at Flatford, just below the lock, at the point where the towpath switches banks; the horse stands patiently on the ferry while the bargemen pole across, with farm buildings and summer trees behind. Constable exhibited it at the Royal Academy in 1819, and it marked a turning point: the first of his six-foot canvases of working life on the Stour, a scale normally reserved for history painting, and the first picture to attract real attention and to be set beside Turner by the critics, who found in it nature's portraiture rather than her poetry. It was bought by his friend John Fisher. The Frick Collection in New York acquired it in 1943, and it hangs in the East Gallery.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A tow-horse crossing the Stour on a barge with farm buildings and summer trees, a wide, settled picture for a living room, dining room or hallway at 36×24 in black. A cream, sage or warm grey wall; it suits rooms with wood and leather.
- Style
- Romanticism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1819)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- calm
- Rooms
- living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. Prints at 18×12, 24×16, 36×24 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard; 36×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; oak lightens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The White Horse in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The White Horse painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
The full-bleed edition
The painting printed edge-to-edge at its own proportions, filling the whole sheet — and available on gallery-wrapped canvas.
