As part of the ‘Discover’ series, this catalogue explores Constable’s most famous painting and its social, political and artistic significance. It begins with an introduction to depictions of rural England by the artist’s predecessors and contemporaries in the British art world, before examining how the English landscape was changing physically and politically at the turn of the nineteenth century. Having set the context, the publication considers Constable’s life and career prior to producing The Hay Wain, going on to look closely at the making of the painting itself, the artist’s practice and materials, and the work’s exhibition in Britain. Two further chapters focus on Constable on the international stage in his lifetime and beyond, and the afterlife of The Hay Wain. 


Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press
 

Christine Riding is Director of Collections and Research at the National Gallery, London.
Mary McMahon is Associate Curator (NG200 Collections) at the National Gallery, London.
Jenny Gaschke is Senior Curator of Paintings and Drawings at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Anne Lyles is an art historian and curator, specialising in British landscape, and an authority on John Constable.
Emma Roodhouse is an art curator both in a freelance capacity and for Colchester and Ipswich Museums.