John Constable’s The Hay Wain was first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1821.
Constable displayed the painting at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1821 in London under its original title, Landscape: Noon. It shows a horse-drawn hay wain crossing the River Stour near Flatford Mill, in the rural area between Suffolk and Essex that became known as Constable Country.
The work initially attracted little attention and failed to find a buyer in Britain. Its later reputation grew dramatically, especially after it was shown in Paris at the Salon of 1824, where French critics and artists praised Constable’s fresh handling of landscape. Théodore Géricault was among those impressed by his work.
The painting’s familiar title refers to the farm wagon in the foreground, not to a separate hayfield scene. Flatford Mill belonged to Constable’s father, and Willy Lott’s Cottage, visible on the left, still survives. The painting is now in London’s National Gallery.