John Constable

The Hay Wain shows the River Stour near Flatford Mill, close to the Suffolk and Essex border. Constable exhibited the painting at the Royal Academy in London in 1821.

Constable made cloud studies to capture changing weather with close observation. Many of his Hampstead sketches from the early 1820s include notes about date, wind, and sky conditions.

The six-footers are large exhibition landscapes, roughly six feet wide, that Constable painted for major public display. The Hay Wain and The White Horse belong to this ambitious group.

Constable gained major attention in France when The Hay Wain was shown at the Paris Salon in 1824. His broken brushwork and natural weather effects influenced French painters before he was fully embraced at home.