Shop art print and framed art The Hay Wain by John Constable

The Hay Wain is a painting completed by John Constable in 1821. This 130 × 185 cm oil-on-canvas painting is in the National Gallery in London. The painting shows a hay cart in the English countryside crossing a stream in the immediate vicinity of Flatford Mill, owned by the artist's father in Suffolk. In the foreground, two figures leading an old, empty and dilapidated hay cart pulled by two horses cross the river. It seems to be caught in a stagnant water zone. Note the rendering of the climate and atmosphere. The imposing sky with its clouds, in particular, is striking, although the human figure is not lacking in character even if it is placed in the background. The presence of a dog shows Constable's interest in detail. In the background are vast fields of hay. The whole composition is bathed in warm light. As the Stour forms the border between two counties, the painting depicts Lott Willy's Suffolk cottage on the left bank and the Essex landscape on the right. The house on the left belonged to a neighbour, a farmer by the name of Willy Lott, who was known to have been born in this house and never to have left it for more than four days in his life. Willy Lott's cottage has survived virtually intact to the present day, but none of the trees visible in the painting remain. The water level is also higher, as this area of East Anglia has subsided 30 cm into the sea since Constable's time. The successive repentances include a dog, which has successively replaced a horseman [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the classicism style.

 

« The Hay Wain » is kept at National Gallery, London, United Kingdom.

 

Find the full description of The Hay Wain by John Constable on Wikipedia.