"I don't think of all the misery, but of all the beauty that remains."

-Anne Frank

            Loss is an inevitable part of the human existence; we find it in death, in relationships, in history. There is not a person who has lived and has not felt the keen pang of some kind of loss, however small it may have been. Why, then, do we as humans memorialize or even make art out of this pain?

                In 1828, John Constable- English Romantic painter and known for his landscapes- experienced such a loss that then shaped his art. The death of his wife Maria reminded him of a scene he had once written a letter to her about, 15 years prior: the ruin of Hadleigh Castle. In 1829, Constable painted the Sketch for 'Hadleigh Castle', an oil-on-canvas sketch (for a larger piece) which now hangs in the Tate Britain. This painting clearly reflects his somber and grieving mood, and I personally was a little haunted by it. The ruins of the castle and the weathered sky show well his inner feelings, and to his brother he said of Maria’s death 'I shall never feel again as I have felt, the face of the World is totally changed to me'. It makes me wonder how this painting would have looked if he had painted it prior to his wife’s death; would it have been happier, livelier, more like the world as he saw it when his sweetheart was still alive? However, it is because of the loss of his wife that this piece was created, and that it contains the haunting beauty it does.

            Those somber ruins depicted in Constable’s piece reminded me of another beautiful, yet tragic, set of ruins: Tintern Abbey. Although the Abbey saw its original destruction during the 16th century, it began to be a popular place for scholars and artists during the 19th century, actually around the same time that Constable painted his piece of Hadleigh Castle. What really strikes me about Tintern Abbey is how it has become so much more meaningful in its destruction to us in modern times than it would have been were it still whole; there is beauty in its destruction and its loss, however ironic that may seem. Standing in Tintern Abbey (or what is left of it), you can look up through the rubble and see sky, and mountains, and trees- it’s glorious, but makes one wonder how it looked in its prime. However, it seems to be so much more powerful now in its destruction; it has beauty in its remains, and I know that I personally am more interested in how it is now than how it would have been if it were untouched.

            Both of these pieces of art- one a physical painting, the other an architectural heritage site- exist the way that they are because of loss and ruin. Constable faced the death of his wife, and Tintern Abbey faced religious destruction; however, both now hold so much beauty as a product of the loss they faced. Constable turned to his art as a way to grieve, and we as guests at Tintern Abbey visit the site as a way to honor it. Perhaps it is in our nature as human beings to turn to art in the face of pain; perhaps we take our loss and we make it into something bearable, something beautiful.

            Loss is something we all connect with, and art is a way that we all connect with each other. Although we may not understand exactly how Constable felt after the death of his wife, after viewing his piece Sketch for 'Hadleigh Castle' we may be able to feel our own emotion contrived from his pain. And when we visit Tintern Abbey, we don’t necessarily feel the same sense of loss that the Cistercian monks who lived there did, or even those religious figures who loved the Abbey; but we can still feel the pain and the hollowness that accompanies its history. Art allows us to feel the emotions of those who love it and create it. It enables us to relate to each other, and to craft the hurt we feel into something beautiful and lasting. So, as humans, it makes sense that we memorialize and make art out of what pains us; it makes sense that we turn our loss into something new and emotional and permanent. It makes sense to find beauty in ruin.

Constable, Sketch for 'Hadleigh Castle'. 1829. Oil on Canvas

Tintern Abbey