John Constable - The hay wain

• Title: The hay wain
• Artist: John Constable (1776-1837)
• Date: 1821
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 130 x 185 cm

In “The hay wain”, originally titled “Landscape- noon”, Constable painted a wagon ridden by two men, stopped in the middle of a shallow and slow river flowing through a lush English landscape. The wagon is for carrying hay but is empty at present and it might be stopped in the river to let the horses drink or cool off. Across the meadow in the distance, is a group of haymakers at work. The cottage shown on the left was linked to Constable’s family. A young girl is kneeled on the wooden deck near the cottage to fill up jars of water from the river.

Constable was a precursor in outdoor painting and natural observation. “The Hay Wain” was hailed in France at the 1824 Salon for the finesse of the observation and of the rendering of the landscape, the light and the scene. The viewer can feel the Noon sun dimmed by the clouds and can sense how good it feels to make a pause from the day’s work in the middle of the cool river. Interestingly, Constable only travelled in England, mostly in Suffolk and Essex, and refused to visit Paris to share in the triumph of “The hay wain” prefering as he wrote “the lovely valleys mid the peaceful farm houses”.