News about John Constable

The new rules were introduced on Friday after protests in which John Constable's The Hay Wain, Diego Velazquez's Rokeby Venus and Van Gogh's Sunflowers were targeted by Just Stop Oil activists. Pro-Palestinian activists from the group Youth Demand also pasted over Pablo Picasso's Motherhood in October in protest at the sale of arms to Israel . Tougher guidelines now state that 'no liquids can be brought into the National Gallery, with the exception of baby formula, expressed milk and prescription medicines'. However Just Stop Oil managed to gain access to the Gallery and unfurl a banner to demand the release of two activists who were imprisoned for throwing soup at Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting in 2022. Some people have had to queue for over an hour to get in, with those unaware of the rules having to empty their water bottles outside. One visitor, Nina, said the queues were 'worse than airport' security, stating 'I'm a member but I may not be after this'.

Those living on the UK's most northerly isles have history with colonisers. The first Viking invasion of Shetland came between 800 and 850AD, brought plundering and pillaging, and Norse rule continued there for more than 600 years. Islanders can be more precise about the timing of the second Viking invasion. It is happening right now in the form of a gargantuan wind farm which has claimed dominion over their treeless landscape.

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Windfarm operators in Scotland have been paid more than £205 million to turn OFF their turbines this year, shock new figures have revealed. The massive payouts, which are made when electricity from turbines cannot be used or the wind is too strong, are on track to reach record levels this year with more than £45million of taxpayers' cash paid out this month alone. It comes as nearly one million OAPs living in Scotland prepare to lose their winter fuel payment following a major U-turn by the SNP government.

When people describe this as 'Constable Country', it is no idle boast here in the Suffolk village of Brantham. Not only did John Constable paint the altarpiece of St Michael's Church; he married the rector's daughter and produced his most famous work, The Hay Wain, at Flatford Mill, an hour's walk upstream along the River Stour. However, there has been little talk of Constable in recent weeks. Visitors now allude to another cultural reference point. And it is one which infuriates the residents of Brantham. 'We are not Midsomer. What has happened here is completely outside our experience,' says district councillor Alastair McCraw, dismissing any comparisons with the equally picturesque but serially homicidal setting of ITV 's drama Midsomer Murders.

The world is a less safe place for my daughter than it was for me growing up. This is not hyperbole - it is cold, hard fact, reflected in news this week that should disturb us all. On Tuesday, the National Police Chiefs' Council published a harrowing report that said violence against women and girls was now at such 'staggering' levels it can be described only as a 'national emergency', posing as much of a threat to society as terrorism. Take a moment and read that again: violence against women and girls is now a national emergency that poses as much of a threat to society as terrorism.

A child contracted the rare infection Weil's disease after going swimming in an Essex river, a council has said. Dedham Parish Council in Essex said the local student 'suffered a severe infection after swimming in the River Stour at Dedham, and has been very poorly'. In a letter published on its website, the authority said it was a 'confirmed case of Weil's disease (leptospirosis) which can be very serious'. The disease is spread in the urine of infected animals, most commonly rats, mice, cows, pigs and dogs. People can contract Weil's disease if soil or freshwater, such as water from a river, that contains infected urine gets in their mouth, eyes or a cut.

he teenage Banksy - whose real identity is former public schoolboy Robin Gunningham - is shown clowning around with classmates during a ski trip - and in another photo believed to be him, visiting the Berlin Wall before it came down. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the guerrilla stenciller, whose works have sold for millions, was spotted as a gifted artist even back then, when he attended the prestigious Cathedral School in Bristol having started at the then £700-a-term school in 1984.

Rural Scotland is in revolt. It's something that goes well beyond the impatience or annoyance I feel in my daily interactions with my urban environment. This is outrage.

The Renewable Energy Foundation has outlined the cost, which is likely to have been added to consumer bills, and Ofgem is now investigating. Wind farm operators have been accused of "inflating" the rates they charge, with the customer paying the bill. Multiple wind farm owners have been charged over the odds to cut their output on windy days, producing no electricity but costing customers a fortune,' REF director John Constable said.' The operating Wing of National Grid (ESO) requires electricity generators to increase or decrease production in real time to strike a balance between demand and supply.

They hoped that it would be their forever home when they bought it seven years ago. Now they're afraid they will have no choice but to be stuck there. For the time being, the dream cottage in rural Aberdeenshire, which Sheena Hickey and Chris Webster fell in love with on sight, has the same stunning views throughout the unspoiled countryside. However, an invasion is afoot. An electricity substation, one of the country's biggest, is scheduled to be their new neighbor. In the atmosphere over them, a network of overhead power lines would grow. They will be held in place by massive pylons up to 200 feet tall.

Over the next few months, Scotland's new steel and carbon fibre forests will begin to rise from the sea. Its size will be unbelievable. The fact that there will be 60 of them and they are being installed several miles offshore in the North Sea makes the whole project a remarkable ­engineering endeavour. However, the Moray West wind farm, which is set to be operational next year, is also noteworthy for other reasons. Amazon will buy more than half of the country's electricity it produces. Google has reserved a second tranche of its annual output.

A house owned by John Constable of Hampstead has gone on auction for almost £5 million. The Grade II listed property, which was home to the romantic painter between 1827 and 1837, has been listed for £4.995 million. On Well Walk, just 200 meters from Hampstead Heath, the 19th century Georgian home is located. Constable Edward Constable, who grew up in East Bergholt, Suffolk, was known for resurrecting landscape painting.

Ailbhe MacMahon has moved to Piglets B&B, a boutique retreat that is located in Essex's pastoral neighborhood, just a few miles northeast of London's Stansted Airport. It's more a tiny hotel than a B&B, with an honesty bar, a creative dinner menu, and amenities that make it possible for guests to go days without leaving the house.' According to her, the chemical-free swimming pond is the star attraction at the retreat. 'The gin-clear lagoon is a hit with wild swimmers,' Ailbhe writes, who is unconcerned (as I am) by the cooler water temperature.'

He's the poster boy for the country's chattering classes and art world, a man lauded for making works that mock the Establishment while still denying his identity. He has made a name for himself under the pseudonym Banksy brand, earning him a £50 million fortune. His Girl With Balloon has been named as the 'nation's most beloved work of art,' much more popular than John Constable's The Hay Wain. The results came from a survey that was based on a database of arts writers including the Observer's media reporter. However, this hero-worship is rooted in an egregious hypocrisy. The mystique of his anonymity is a key to banksy's fame and financial pulling power. And though his real name has been out for 15 years thanks to a Mail on Sunday investigation, Banksy's fawning followers continue to deny this. There's a surreal omerta with his true name deliberately camouflaged, rather than calling him by his real name - Robin Gunningham. According to art historians, this allows him to cash in on his carefully nurtured image as 'the Scarlet Pimpernel of modern art' and make even more money as someone who wears his street cred like a hairshirt.

Whenever a video of Hanan Ameur and Harrison Donnelly (left) sparked rioting this morning, they were seen hammering the glass of the priceless oil painting, shouting, 'it is time for deeds not words.' Both have had previous encounters with the legislation punishing property on behalf of Just Stop Oil. Ameur, 22, (top right) appeared in court last week after being charged with storming during Les Miserables' appearance in London's West End. She and four other protesters allegedly appeared on stage at the Sondheim Theatre last month and waved the climate change organization's banners, bringing the event to a halt. Donnelly, 20, (bottom right) was charged with criminal damage of a building last month after he reportedly splatted orange paint and hand prints over the University of Birmingham library's front door before staging a sit-down protest under a Just Stop Oil banner.

At the National Portrait Gallery, just Stop Oil has smashed a suffragette painting. The reaction was prompted by the government's announcement of calls for more oil licences, according to the climate activists.

Willy Lott's House in Flatford, Suffolk, the subject of several Constable's drawings, most prominently The Hay Wain, was included in the sketch, and it reflects its place in Constable's work. The canvas painting was first recognized location in 1979, according to a rare Italian academic publication, before its reappearance 40 years later. The painting is 11.5in by 9.6in and is intended to represent the 19th century painter's adoration of the Suffolk countryside.

The pencil drawing was created by Dover artist John Williams of Kent, which includes the castle on the top of the historic White Cliffs. It's one of a series of sketches he did on board the Coutts in April 1803 as the ship travelled along the coast from London to Deal before heading to China. It was discovered during a house clearance in Leeds, and the late owners of the property had reportedly failed to recognize that their unsigned photo was a genuine long-lost Constable. Dominic Cox, a charity auctioneers based in Scarborough, said: We know that the sketch was created on the last day of the trip thanks to a letter from Constable to a friend.'

After going missing for 40 years, an oil painting (pictured) by John Constable was discovered in Guernsey. The sketch, which dates back to June 1814, has resurfaced in a private collection in Guernsey and is expected to sell for up to £120,000 at auction. It features Willy Lott's House in Flatford, Suffolk, the subject of several of Constable's paintings, most notably The Hay Wain. It was the home of tenant farmer Willy Lott and is a Grade I listed building to reflect its importance in Constable's work.

The coastal towns of Walberswick and Southwold, which are separated by the Blyth River, seem to have remained uninhabited by time. Quietude is what we needed, too, so that, in between cycling, hiking, and swimming, we could relax and work untroubled by the city's noises. The wish turned out to be a chimera. We've been compelled to spend our holiday with the rumbling of heavy bulldozers, diggers, and lorries raging backwards and forwards, releasing high-pitched safety warnings.

How much is a beautiful view worth? A lovely feature can mean a great deal when it comes to buying a house - you'll need only read through the estate agents' particulars or take a look at the immense value paid for coastal homes. However, a stunning landscape cannot be assigned a specific monetary value, and it isn't limited to property owners. The belief of "England's green and pleasant land," as the popular hymn says, is at the center of what millions of adults love (with a heavy element of nostalgia) about this world.

This week, Kathryn Flett discusses BBC drama Wolf, which is set in Wales, and My5's show Wonders of the Moon. Wolf's large cast is 'rarely' on the same page,' she says. It also claims that it should be 'critically condemned for revelling in so many disembowelled bodies.'

It was discovered in an 800-year-old Scottish castle near Kilmarnock that was inherited by a couple who were unable to pay the bills. Simon Houison Craufurd (top right), laird of Craufurdland Castle, and his wife Adity, said the new found wealth would be'life-changing' for the estate, which racks up repair and maintenance costs of £100,000 a year. Ronnie Archer-Morgan, an art critic who spent months debating the canvas, realized the painting's value, which had been left in the guest wing. It's funny because it's a painting that I've enjoyed many times, but I'm not sure how many times it has been used, and I haven't paid much attention to it,' Mr Craufurd said.