The Hay Wain (1821) by John Constable

Where? National Gallery in London
When? 1821
Medium and size: Oil on canvas; 130.2 x 185.4 cm (54 1/4 x 73 in)

What do you see? We see a large painting, depicting a rural landscape that is the third of the so called, “six-footers”. It is from a series of large canvasses that John Constable painted for the annual summer exhibitions at the Royal Academy in London. (1819-1831) The original title was Landscape: Noon.

The scene portrays an area on the River Stour between the English counties of Suffolk and Essex. It is one of his most famous works and one of the most popular English paintings of all time.

​We see three horses hitched to a hay wain (cart or wagon) in the middle of a stream with two workmen in the cart, both seated, and one with his arm extended, perhaps in conversation. From the earlier title, it may be assumed they are taking their midday break, but it has also been suggested that it was a necessary stop in order to cool the wheels of the wagon. Hot weather would cause the wooden wheels to shrink while the iron rims around them would expand and cause the wheels to wobble. The cool stream solved the problem. Since the hay wain is empty, they probably would continue their journey across the river to the meadows beyond to be filled once again. To the right of the hay wain are three ducks, seemingly oblivious to the cart and the boat in the water pulled into the riverbank. There is a man with his fishing pole, partially hidden by the greenery in the bushes behind the boat. In the foreground to the left of the hay wain is a black and white dog looking towards the men, perhaps in the hopes of some scraps from their lunch. On the left-hand side is Willy Lott’s Cottage, a tenant farm-house on the Constable estate in Flatford, Suffolk, England. Willie lived in the cottage and worked on the farm his entire life, hence the name of the cottage. Magnification reveals a woman, kneeling on the dock, filling a clear jug with water from the stream (although some other sources say she is washing clothes). Constable painted this tenant cottage in several other works. 

Willy Lott's Cottage (CC BY-SA 2.5, Rowland Shaw)

We are drawn further into the painting and the meadows where workers are bent to the task of harvesting and farm animals take their leisure in a field beyond. 

Billowing, puffy clouds suggest a breeze and the dark grey clouds, rain. The blue sky hints that sunshine has been or will come again, not far off any weather report for most summer days in England.
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Below is one of many original sketches Constable made for The Hay Wain, now in The Victoria and Albert Museum in London. There are distinct differences between the two. He used broad, flowing, brush strokes in a much looser manner than the final work. It is believed that he worked these sketches in order to establish balance in the composition and harmony with his colors. There are three people in the hay wain in the sketch, with a woman and children in the foreground with the dog. The water is ill-defined as is the depth in the work. Unfortunately, he left few notes that would explain his thought processes as he worked and changed the final piece.

Full scale study for The Hay Wain (c. 1821) in the Victoria and Albert Collections. London

Constable said of himself: Painting is another word for feeling, and I associate my “careless boyhood” with all that lies on the banks of the Stour. These scenes made me a painter. (John Constable, William Vaughan) Certainly, gazing at these art works even today, can provoke many imagined tales and emotions.
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Backstory: In 1799, John Constable was 23 when he sought formal art education at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. His father, a wealthy corn merchant, who owned mills in Dedham and Flatford along the banks of the River Stour, had expected him to continue in his footsteps, taking over the estate and running the businesses. He was not supportive of John’s choice. John had been allowed to take art lessons and dabbled as a ‘gentleman painter’ with several mentors but could barely scrape a living together with his efforts. His first painting exhibited at the Royal Academy was Dedham Vale in 1811. He was 35. It marked his commitment to painting the actual beauty of nature. This ‘Nature’ was in the discovery phase in English painting.

Dedham Vale: Morning (1811) by John Constable

Constable would return to this scene many times in his life, sketching, painting in watercolor or oils. He strove to reveal, “a pure and unaffected representation of the countryside around him”. He was fascinated by the effects of light, wind and rain on the landscape and often painted the same scene more than once.

Constable married his fiancée, Maria Bricknell in 1816. With a wife and the thoughts of children to come, he needed to find greater financial success. Portrait painting did not provide enough money for a family. He needed to find something to make a name for himself within the Academy before he could reach a larger audience and the attention and success he craved. His love of his home area and his youth exploring all that was around him developed into his passion for landscape painting. It nurtured his belief that the style itself should be elevated, not just in the historical classical form but to a more modern style. This was radical thinking for the time when landscape art was at the bottom of the pile and considered beneath all other styles. He had a daunting task ahead to convince the general public that landscape art had value.

​He was 43 when he began painting large canvases. These works don’t sound like a major accomplishment today, but according to Tate Gallery, it was “a unique practice in the history of Western art and did mark him as distinctly modern in his approach”. He had not exhibited a painting at the Royal Academy in 1818 but in 1819 he showed the first of these large works, entitled The White Horse.

The White Horse (1819) by John Constable

A barge carries a white horse across the Stour River (in Suffolk, England) to the tow path on the other side. He had made a full-scale oil sketch before painting the final work. It was the first time he had done so and he continued the practice for the rest of his career. The painting was a success with the Academy and he was finally voted an Associate.

Constable was one of the first to actually paint his own working pencil sketches and to paint those sketches outside in situ. He would spend summers outside sketching and then in the winter, he would paint his formal oils in his studio in London. Working from his sketches gave him the opportunity to reproduce the light of summer in the gray winters of London.

In 1821, he exhibited The Hay Wain, however in England, it was not critically successful. In 1824, it was shown in Paris, and it was this exhibition that brought attention to his work. The French recognized and admired the “bold use of paint, and the vivid effects of atmospherics that he achieved.” He finally attained the respect of his fellow artists for his “passionate observation and daring expression that gives so much excitement to his work.”

The Other “Six Footers” for the Academy: A brief look at the remaining four paintings included in the six-footers gives a cohesive view of his work at this time.

Stratford Mill (1820) by John Constable

​Stratford St. Mary is near East Bergholt, Constable’s childhood home. This was the second large painting that he did for the Academy. The water-powered paper mill can be seen on the far left of the picture. We see the river, a barge and the meadow with various people fishing on the banks and near the mill. The Examiner described it as having “a more exact look of nature than any picture we have ever seen by an Englishman.” It was purchased for 100 Guineas. Constable thought the price was too low. The full-sized oil sketch that he did first is held by the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven.

View on the Stour near Dedham (1822) by John Constable

​This work followed the year after he painted The Hay Wain in 1821. In this fourth six-footer we see another view of the Stour River near Flatford Bridge, in what we refer to as “Constable Country”. By using these large canvases, normally reserved for history painting, Constable elevated the importance of landscape painting in the public’s eye. But, he also provided a view of what life in the countryside was like in his youth and the vision of how the people lived and worked in their villages using the river and water meadows. A gabled cottage is off to the right with people on the banks and in the barges. The church tower can be seen in the distance and there is a barge ahead in full sail. Closer, we see one man pushing on a pole, while another steers, a boy weighs anchor while a second pushes with his feet against the nearest barge as they advance into the river. It implies hard work yet there is a leisurely feel to the painting as the boy on the bridge is quietly enjoying the scene. Did Constable put himself as a child in the picture? He would not have been working the barges.

The Leaping Horse (1825) by John Constable

​By the time he exhibited this painting, Constable was known as the painter of simple nature. He wanted to move towards a more heroic form of ‘Nature Painter’ and this work is one of his most dramatic. This subject matter presents a rapid, forceful action. The tow horse is leaping a cattle barrier on the towpath. All eyes are drawn to this powerful horse and the exertion it exhibits. We see the barge emerging into the canal almost as an after-thought even though it is a large object. The tree just off center directs our eyes to the colorful horse and the foreground that supports the towpath and bridge, all seeming to be very powerful. Constable had a difficult time with this painting. He said “No one picture ever departed from my easel with more anxiety on my part with it.” A friend had suggested that perhaps he should change the time of day in the composition to provide some variety in his paintings, but he responded with a definite no and added that “subject and change of weather and effect will afford variety in a landscape”. Though dramatic, this ordinary daily action on a Suffolk towpath did not find a buyer at the time (Wm. Vaughan).

Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831) by John Constable

​This is the last of the six footers that Constable painted for the Academy although it was not the last of his large canvases. The painting displays the cathedral from across the River Nadder. Three horses pull a cart across the river with a man and a woman in the front. Various other people and animals are visible. The dramatic elements are clearly the features of the painting. The sky is dark but with an arching rainbow descending from the middle of the painting. It is deeply symbolic according to lines of poetry that Constable added at a later date: “As from the face of heaven the scatter’d clouds Tumultuous rove, th’iterminable sky Sublimer swells, and o’er the world expands A purer azure,” from The Seasons by 18th century poet, James Thomson, revealing the painting’s meaning: that “the rainbow is a symbol of hope after a storm that follows on the death of the young Amelia in the arms of her lover Celadon. The symbols in this painting include: a grave marker for death, the ash tree for life, the church for faith and resurrection, the rainbow for renewed optimism, the sky as Constable wrote “is the source of light in Nature, and it governs everything.” Constable believed that this work embodied “the full compass” of his art. My art, he said “is found under every hedge.” And added, “the landscape painter must walk in the fields with a humble mind. No arrogant man was ever permitted to see nature in all her beauty.”

Constable versus Turner: Constable made his name and has taken his place in art history, but not without some controversy. J. M. W. Turner and Constable were key artists of British Romanticism. They were rivals who had been born a year apart (1775 and 1776) and they competed with each other to define landscape painting in early 19th Century London. Both artists were fascinated by the effects of light, rain and wind on the landscape. Critics described Turner’s dramatic, light-filled scenes as ‘fire’ and Constable’s detailed, textured, naturalistic landscapes as ‘water’. 

The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, October 16, 1834 (c. 1834-1835) by J. M. W. Turner

Chain Pier, Brighton (c. 1826-1827) by John Constable

Contrasts are seen in their color palettes, brush strokes, techniques and emotional outcomes of their work. Turner used every tone and hue in the orange-red zone, while Constable used all the greens-blues. Although Constable is the one who said “painting is another word for feeling”, it applies to both these artists. This intense competition pushed the boundaries of landscape painting by emphasizing emotion, individualism, nature and imagination. These changes in art took place in the era of the Industrial Revolution. Turner painted the Industrial Revolution in several of his large works whereas Constable turned away from that and preferred to represent quiet, rural scenes.

Reinterpretation today, has curators and critics re-evaluating The Hay Wain in particular. They suggest that these peaceful scenes of the idyllic countryside, painted by Constable, omitted the harsh social and economic realities of the early 19th century. Rural poverty, food shortages caused by the Corn Laws and the effects of the Napoleonic Wars contributed to the darker side of this era. However, by taking the paintings out of Constable’s context, which was his own deep, nostalgic look back on his childhood home and environments, when he was in his 40’s, we lose sight of his original intentions and reduce the great pleasure of looking at these marvelous works. He was not portraying the Industrial Revolution in the same manner as Turner. His subject here was purely landscape and the beauty of nature as he saw it in his youth.

Further reading: The Tate provides a map of the locations of 10 of Constable’s important works, all painted in close vicinity to each other.

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Written by Carol Morse

References:

• Constable Time-Line on Google.
• John Constable at Wikipedia.
• Nicholls-Lee, Deborah (2024) Why the Iconic English Painting, The Hay Wain by John Constable is so Not What it Seems, May 10, BBC.
• Shields, Conal and Parris, Leslie, (1985) John Constable, Tate Gallery Publications, London.
• Tate Britain Publications (2006), The Great Landscapes Exhibition Booklet, edited by Humphreys, Richard and Beaven, Kristin.
• V and A Museum: John Constable - an Introduction.