The Hay Wain
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| The Hay Wain |
|---|
| John Constable , 1821 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 130 × 185 cm |
| National Gallery , London |
The Hay Wain ( Eng . The hay cart , also The hay wagon ) is a painting by the British painter John Constable, completed in 1821. It shows a rural scene on the River Stour in Suffolk .
The painting is now in the National Gallery , London and is considered one of the most popular paintings by the British public.
description
The oil painting shows a pair of draft horses in the center of the picture pulling a hay cart or large cart through a river. On the left side of the picture a hut can be seen, which is also depicted in Constable's painting Willy Lott's Cottage . The landscape section shown is clearly identifiable. It's located near Flatford Mill . The left bank zone shown is in Suffolk, while the right bank is in Essex .
history
Flatford Mill belonged to John Constable's father. The hut shown on the left belonged to the neighbor Willy Lott, a tenant who is reported to have been born in the house and not to have left it for more than four days during his entire lifetime. Willi Lott's house has remained almost unchanged to this day, only the trees shown in the painting are no longer there.
Even if the painting is now highly regarded by the British public, the painting initially attracted little attention. It was exhibited by the Royal Academy under the title Landscape: Noon in 1821 , but did not find a buyer. It attracted more attention in France, where Théodore Géricault, among others, gave it a particularly positive review. It attracted a great deal of attention when it was exhibited along with other paintings by Constable in the Paris Salon of 1824. It cannot be ruled out that Constable's paintings were only included in the exhibition because they wanted to honor Géricault, who died at the beginning of 1824. As part of the exhibition, The Hay Wain was awarded a gold medal by the French King Charles . An imprint of this medal is on the frame of the picture today.
The painting was sold to the gallery owner John Arrowsmith at the exhibition together with three other paintings by Constable. The next buyer was gallery owner DT White who brought it back to the UK and resold it to a Mr Young who lived in Ryde on the Isle of Wight . There the painting caught the attention of collectors Henry Vaughan and CR Leslie. After Young's death, Vaughan bought the painting from the estate and donated it to the National Gallery in London in 1886, where it hangs to this day. The oil sketch of the same size as the painting is now owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum ,
Individual evidence
- ↑ BBC News : John Constables Hay Wain is the second most popular painting among the British public
- ↑ The Haywain . V&A. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
- ^ National Gallery March 6, 2013
- ↑ The Haywain ( Memento of the original from August 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed March 6, 2013
