John
Constable’s paintings of the English landscape, particularly those of his
native Suffolk , are so evocative that many
visitors to England
expect to see nothing but a series of Constable canvasses through their car
windows. Needless to say, they are often disappointed. However, there are
instances when they are not, and it is quite possible to stand today in some of
the places where Constable stood nearly 200 years ago and see at least
something of what he would have seen. The Hay-Wain is a case in point.
John
Constable (1776-1837) was the son of a watermill owner, farmer and corn
merchant, and many of his landscapes are of the places he knew from childhood. In
his own words: “I associate my careless boyhood with all that lies on the
banks of the Stour . Those scenes made me a
painter". He stated that he would always “paint
his own places best”, because he could put his true feelings into his work, as
well as his love for “the sound of water escaping from mill dams” and the trees
and buildings that were part of his very being.
The Hay-Wain,
painted in 1821, was one of a series devoted to “Constable Country”, which is
specifically the Suffolk-Essex border demarcated by the River Stour above
Manningtree. The painting took about five months to complete, most of the work
being done in the artist’s London
studio, based on a full-sized sketch (and further detailed sketches) made on
the spot. It is one of Constable’s “six footers”, being large-scale canvasses
that allowed full expression of his feelings for the landscape.
The picture,
which was originally titled “Landscape: Noon” shows a shallow stretch of the
river with a cottage to the left and an open cornfield in the distance. To the
left of the canvas the river is shaded by tall trees, whereas to the right the
sky is more visible, with cumulus clouds moving across it. The focal point of
the painting is the hay-wain of the title, this being a large open cart with
planked sides, drawn by horses. The hay-wain is empty as it is being driven
across the river to collect its next load from the harvest that is being
gathered on the other side in the far distance.
Only a few
yards “out of shot” is Flatford Mill, which belonged to the Constable family
business (run by John’s brother after the death of his father) and which
featured in other famous paintings by the artist. The cottage is Willy Lott’s
Cottage, which is still there, as is the Mill. The view is taken from the Suffolk side of the river, looking over towards Essex . The trees are not there today, and a modern
hay-wain would find the water somewhat deeper. The banks are more overgrown,
such that the distant view is obscured.
Constable’s
landscapes are rarely just that, but are snapshots of country life. This is
certainly true of The Hay-Wain, with the harvest in progress in the distance
and the hay-wain itself, which is motionless in the river as the two farmhands
allow the horses to take a drink. A woman is busy outside the cottage and a man
can be seen in the bushes on the far bank. A dog runs along the near bank,
excited by the hay-wain in the river.
Constable
applied his paint in various ways, employing stokes that were both short and
long, and both rough and smooth. This gave a variety of textures. The colour
palette is restrained, being mostly greens and browns (apart from the sky).
Constable used white sparingly, although his use of white for reflections in
the water was innovative and not generally welcomed by contemporary art critics.
A small dash of bright red on the harnesses of the horses draws attention to
the intended focal point.
Constable’s
use of light is almost photographic, in that, on a cloudy day like this, shafts
of sunlight are allowed to brighten parts of the landscape more than others.
The light catches the whitewashed sides of the cottage, but other places are in
shade. The grey cloud overhead threatens a summer shower.
The Hay-Wain
is a painting that demands more than a passing glance, because the view is
worth a second look. To the modern viewer it is a look back at English rural
life in an age long gone. There is no hustle or bustle here, and the men on the
hay-wain seem to have all the time in the world to set about their work.
Today’s viewer can also spare a few minutes to step back in time and forget
themselves for a moment or two.
The Hay-Wain
is one of the world’s most reproduced pictures, with the scene being familiar
from millions of prints, chocolate boxes and jigsaw puzzles. However, it is
best appreciated in the original, on the wall at the National Gallery, London .
© John
Welford
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