Speakasso › Paintings › The Hay Wain
The Hay Wain
John Constable, 1821
A cart drawn by three horses fords the shallow River Stour; at left is the cottage of tenant farmer Willy Lott, and in the distance men are cutting hay. Constable grew up here in Suffolk, where his father owned a nearby mill. He painted the huge canvas in London over the winter from summer sketches and even asked a friend to send him a drawing of the cart. The painting found no buyer in England, but at the Paris Salon of 1824 it won a gold medal and dazzled Delacroix. Lott's cottage still stands on the same spot today.
What is in the painting
- Cart in water. A wooden wagon with two men and horses stands in the middle of the river.
- House at left. A white cottage with a red roof and chimney among trees.
- Cloudy sky. Big white clouds over a low green meadow.
Did you know? The spot is Flatford, and thousands of visitors still come every year for the view 'just like the painting'.
About the painting
- Artist
- John Constable (1776–1837)
- Year
- 1821
- Style
- Romanticism
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 130 × 185 cm
- Where to see it
- National Gallery, London
How to describe it in Speakasso
In Speakasso you describe the painting in your own words and an AI draws it again. These words are forbidden in this round — each one costs 15 points:
A description that scores high
A wooden farm wagon pulled by horses stands in shallow water in the middle of a quiet stream, with two men aboard. On the left, a white cottage with a red roof and chimney hides among tall dark trees. On the right, a low sunny green meadow stretches away, with tiny workers far off. Big white and grey puffy clouds fill a bright summer sky. Fresh greens and browns, natural, realistic oil painting.
The tricky part: Call it an empty wooden farm wagon standing in a shallow stream, and the building a white cottage with a red roof.
The method behind it: what is painted first, then where things are, then colour and light, then the style. Read the full guide
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