Ruskin 's opinion of Constable, first voiced in this footnote remained consistent (see Ruskin's criticism of Constable). Here, he criticises Constable, for not taking sufficient note of the work of other artists, whilst at the same time criticising Claudean idealisation. The notion may have come from reading Leslie's Life, ( Leslie, Memorials of the Life of John Constable RA, p.307) in which Constable is quoted as saying 'When I sit down the first thing I try to do is to forget that I have even seen a picture'.