John Constable was one of the greatest English painters of all time. Sadly,he never achieved great success while he was alive.John was born in 1776.His father made a lot of money in the wheat business.The plan was for John to take over the family business.But John wanted to paint.In 1799 John began to study art.He took classes at the Royal Academy School.The school is run by the Royal Academy of Arts.The academy is like a club.Only the greatest English artists are members and you have to be invited to join.Also at the school was a young man named J.M.W.Turner.He was only a year older than John.But the two never became friends.In fact,Turner became John’s great rival.Like most painters of the time,Turnner painted mytholongical and biblical scenes.John painted feilds and trees.Artists and critics loved Turner’s work,but they ignored John’s.In 1802 Turner was elected to the Royal Academy,but John wasen’t asked to join untill 1829.Turner achieved great success during his life,and yet John only sold 20 paintings in England while he was alive.John could have painted things that other people liked.In fact,he sometimes portats just to make some money.But he loved painting landscapes.At the time,other artists painted strange,imagenary landscpes.John painted real,actual landscapes.John thought that what he was painting was important.And history has proven him right.