John Constable was a landscape painter during the romantic era. He was one of the first artists of the Romantic movement to create landscape paintings drawn directly from nature. The image below was originally titled as Landscape Noon but is now known universally as the Hay Wain.

‘The Hay Wain’ not only shows the beauty of nature but also the charm of rural life. The horse-drawn cart, shows the agricultural way of life in the English countryside.

While we are aware that the Industrial Revolution is occurring at this time, this painting seems peaceful. There are no signs of factories or industrialisation tainting the image.

The painting looks detailed, but on closer inspection, it has been painted with expressive brush marks that show a real sense of emotion and life within the scene.