Hi! If you're new to this newsletter here’s how it works:

Each morning I spend a few minutes searching the internet for an old painting or similar that I think looks cool (professional I know). Today it was this painting of an English farm scene:

(View the full sized image here)

I then give identifying info about the work to Perplexity with the instructions to research it and tell me all the interesting things it can about said work. Today it gave me this:

The Hay Wain: A Summer's Day Frozen in Time

In the gentle embrace of a warm summer's day, three horses pull a wooden wagon through the shallow waters of the River Stour. The animals pause to drink, their harnesses adorned with decorative red tassels. Near the riverbank, a dog barks excitedly at the wagon, while a woman kneels by a red-roofed cottage to fill her pitcher with water. In the distance, haymakers toil in the golden-green meadows, and fluffy white clouds drift across the sky, with darker ones gathering at the edges, hinting at an approaching shower. A fisherman stands half-hidden by bushes beside his small boat, completing this seemingly idyllic scene of rural English life that John Constable immortalized in his masterpiece, "The Hay Wain."

The Painting's Hidden Depths

What appears to be a tranquil countryside scene actually conceals deeper meanings. Originally titled "Landscape: Noon," this seemingly peaceful image is considered by some art historians to be "a deeply political picture whose calm hides a darker reality." While millions admire it as the quintessential image of nostalgic Englishness, the painting presents a carefully curated, idealized version of rural life that glosses over the harsh realities of agricultural existence in the early 19th century.

The painting's immense popularity might surprise Constable himself—it failed to find a buyer when first exhibited at London's Royal Academy in 1821. It wasn't until 1824, when the painting was shown at the Paris Salon, that it received recognition, winning a gold medal from Charles X of France and inspiring a new generation of French painters, including Eugène Delacroix.

A Practical Pause

There's a practical reason behind this picturesque moment captured by Constable. The wagon hasn't stopped merely for aesthetic purposes. During harvest time, the hot weather would cause wooden wheels to shrink while their iron rims expanded, making them wobble dangerously. By pausing in the river, the farm workers were cooling the wheels to address this problem—a detail of agricultural life that would have been well known to Constable but is lost on many modern viewers.

Composition and Creation

This monumental canvas (130.2 cm × 185.4 cm) is one of Constable's famous "six-footers"—large paintings created specifically for the Royal Academy's annual summer exhibitions. Despite its countryside setting, Constable painted it entirely in his London studio, working from numerous open-air sketches made over several years.

"I am most anxious to get into my London painting-room, for I do not consider myself at work unless I am before a six-foot canvas," Constable wrote to Reverend John Fisher in October 1821.

Constable's meticulous approach included creating a full-scale oil sketch to establish the composition before tackling the final canvas. This preparatory study, executed with a palette knife, now resides in London's Victoria and Albert Museum.

A Place of Personal Significance

The scene depicts a view Constable knew intimately—the millpond at Flatford on the River Stour, about a mile from his birthplace in East Bergholt, Suffolk. The cottage on the left belonged to Willy Lott, a tenant farmer who, according to local legend, was born in the house and spent all but four days of his entire life there. The neighboring Flatford Mill was operated by Constable's family for nearly a hundred years.

England's Most Beloved Landscape

"The Hay Wain" has become one of England's most cherished paintings. In a 2005 BBC poll, it was voted the second most popular painting in any British gallery, runner-up only to Turner's "Fighting Temeraire." Its popularity has led to countless reproductions on everything from "bath towels to biscuit tins," making it perhaps the most recognizable English landscape painting ever created.

This fame has also made it a target for protest. In 2013, a demonstrator glued a photograph to the painting, and in 2022, climate activists attached their own modified "apocalyptic vision of the future" to the original and glued themselves to the frame. Fortunately, the painting suffered only minor damage to its varnish.

The Artist's Vision

For Constable, painting was "but another word for feeling." He used his sketches to document fleeting effects of light and natural phenomena, capturing the tangible presence of a summer afternoon with remarkable immediacy. The rippling water, the masses of clouds, and the interplay of light and shadow all demonstrate his keen observation and technical skill.

When French writer Stendhal saw Constable's work exhibited in Paris, he remarked, "We have never seen anything like these pictures before. It is their truthfulness that is so striking."

The Man Behind the Masterpiece

John Constable (1776-1837) was born in Suffolk to a prosperous miller who owned Flatford Mill and controlled profitable navigation rights on the River Stour. Though he moved to London in 1799 to study at the Royal Academy, he regularly returned to the landscape of his youth for inspiration.

Unlike many artists who achieve fame during their lifetime, Constable's greatest recognition came posthumously. Today, "The Hay Wain" hangs in London's National Gallery, where it continues to capture the imagination of visitors with its seemingly simple yet profoundly resonant vision of the English countryside.

And that's it!

If you have any details you think Perplexity left out, reply to this email and I'll adjust my prompt to nudge it to include it next time.

This blog was part of my daily newsletter. You can subscribe to it here.

Thanks for reading!

-JP

Current prompt: I want you to create a newsletter post describing the fun and exciting stories around a painting. It should be a newsletter read for leisure and should be an enjoyable read (not just a list of facts) here's what you’re gonna do: Find the name of the following painting in its original language and any alternative names it goes by. Then Research the painting and give me blurb telling me all you can about the artist, the historical context/events it was created in, the style, the materials used, the composition and visual elements, the story/underlying message, what inspired the work/what it meant to the author, and whatever other info you find that helps give a complete understanding of the work. A description of what is depicted (mention subjects) should be the first thing, while the “biography” of the artist should be last. Besides that you are free to present the information in a concise and captivating way, with the most interesting and novel stuff closest to the top. Order the presentation of information for which pieces have the most compelling and interesting story to tell. At least some of the description should be formatted like a story. [fore example: a couple sits on a bench watching the sunset while a man next to them…]. ONLY include information that is for THIS SPECIFIC PAINTING. you will find info on paintings similar to this one but NOT this one. OMMIT INFO ABOUT SUCH PIECES.