The Hay Wain by John Constable

V.H. and I are doing a painting exchange challenge where we each choose a painting for the other person to write about. We gave each other three options. From the options given to me, I chose The Hay Wain by John Constable. V.H. wrote about Corot’s “Entrance to the Wood”.Writing about a painting that was voted as one of the “greatest paintings in Britain” feels rather daunting, but that feeling melts away when I look to John Constable’s The Hay Wain and let myself spend a moment in the Suffolk countryside. When I first saw this painting, I didn’t know what the “hay wain” referred to. Reading the painting description on the National Gallery website, I now know this refers to the cart that is in the centre of the image, which would go to pick up hay from the field in the background. And yet I found the painting just as enchanting when I first saw it as I do now. The scene is so peaceful. We don’t need to know all the details to see the beauty in something (although more details do help…