John Constable’s most famous painting, The Hay Wain, is one of those instantly recognisable images that we know not just as an artwork, but from countless souvenir iterations on everything from tea trays to biscuit tins. And while to our eyes it seems like an idyllic depiction of rural England, it also represents a key moment in art history. Perhaps surprisingly, Constable profoundly changed the perception of what a painting – and an English painting in particular – should look like.
Speaking at the opening of the exhibition, curator Christine Riding said the painting is considered “a national icon” and “quintessentially English”. And it is apt that the National Gallery should host this tribute to Constable as part of the NG200 celebrations.
It was 200 years ago, in 1824, that The Hay Wain won international acclaim when it caused quite a sensation at the prestigious Paris Salon, earning a gold medal from the French king, Charles X. It has been in the National Gallery’s permanent Collection since 1886 and is one of the Gallery’s most popular works.
Painted in Constable’s London studio in 1821, the scene is of a hay wain (a wagon) in shallow water near the family’s mill in Flatford where he grew up. This is a delightful, now almost romantic, rendering of the countryside and rural life. Interestingly, the artist originally called it Landscape: Noon, a title that drew attention to the use of light across the scene.
It is very much influenced by the naturalistic landscapes popularised by the 17th century Dutch and Flemish painters. The iconic painting itself is here along with a preparatory sketch and a full-scale study. And it is a large work, one of his so-called ‘six-footers’, and therein lies part of its audacity. Previously painters had reserved these big works for more worthy subject matter, be that religious or aristocratic.
The French writer Charles Nodier said this of The Hay Wain: “Near, it is only broad daubing … at the distance of a few steps it is a picturesque country … it is water, air and sky”. And so it is, painted in strong, masterly strokes. But the reaction in London was not always quite as enthusiastic as it was across the Channel. The social commentator and art critic John Ruskin bemoaned Constable’s style, calling it “blundering” and “superficial”. Over time, his considerable contribution to the development of art was rightly recognised. Art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon says, “Constable’s gift to painting was to be a new vocabulary of self-expression.”
This intimate exhibition shows The Hay Wain in its social and artistic context, displayed alongside other works of the style and period. There are landscapes by many painters including Thomas Gainsborough, George Stubbs and J M W Turner, Constable’s best known contemporary and artistic rival. It is interesting to compare The Reapers, painted by Stubbs in 1783, and the Gainsborough picture of Cornard Wood painted 40 years earlier. There’s also a beautiful painting by George Morland from 1789 showing lightning over a cottage, entitled The Coming Storm.
As you go through this exhibition you notice Constable’s eye for the sky, whether stormy or sunlit, cloudy or bright. Indeed, he had quite a fascination with clouds, as the many cloud studies illustrate. He had a passion for painting in the wild, beginning with what he saw before him and then later adding the landscape of his imagination. The layers of paint are symbolic of the layers of memory that infuse the works. Interestingly, the picture that many Constable scholars consider to be his most important work, The Leaping Horse from 1825, is not included here.
There are also some tiny treasures included, especially the little sketchbooks safely on display in glass cabinets. Constable’s sketchbook from 1814 contains 80 drawings in pencil and watercolour on loan here from the Victoria and Albert Museum; and there’s one from 1815 by George Robert Lewis, a painter of landscapes and portraits. The pages are just filled with detailed and delightful drawings in pen and wash.
Constable was already an Associate of the Royal Academy (RA), having studied at the RA School of Art as a young man and being admitted to membership in 1819. One of the most impressive paintings here is Cenotaph to the Memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Painted in 1836, it is a tribute to the first President of the RA who played an important role in the development of British art. The work was donated to the National Gallery by the artist’s daughter Isabel.
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The Gallery has produced an excellent book by the exhibition’s curators Christine Riding, Director of Collections and Research, and Dr Mary McMahon, Associate Curator NG200 Collections. With essays by Jenny Gaschke, Anne Lyles and Emma Roodhouse, and featuring 94 colour illustrations, this is a good addition to your art bookshelf for just £16.95.
Discover Constable and The Hay Wain will be exhibited at National Gallery, London, until 2 February 2025.
Entry is free.
