In The Hay Wain John Constable has chosen to paint a rural landscape stretching into the distance into sunny meadows, offset by the cool waters of the swimming pool in the foreground. The theme of this painting represents very rural life and beauty of the landscape that the artist loved so much. The hay wagon is based on a site near Flatford on the River Stour, in Suffolk, England The horse-drawn carriage which would have been a common piece of agricultural equipment used during the artist's youth was rented by a farmer and is located behind the Flatford mill owned by Constable Dall's father. across the meadow in the distance on the right, a group of harvesters can be seen at work. The farm workers are at work but appear conflicted and are surrounded by beautiful scenery. All these aspects illustrate Constable's idyllic vision of his county Christmas, Suffolk Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Despite Constable's idyllic vision of rural England throughout his career, it is unlikely that there was so much calm and happiness in the countryside during this period. . Due to the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, many rural populations found themselves out of work as agricultural work became more industrialized and machines reduced the labor needed to harvest and maintain crops and animals. Large areas of Britain have also seen riots and riots among rural communities affected by job losses. It may be that Constable did not paint pictures of these problems because he did not want to draw attention away from the natural landscape itself. At The Hay Wain workers integrate happily with nature and live in harmony with the land. On the other hand, the admission of the true relationship that agricultural workers had with the land could have been due to the fact that the industrial revolution simply did not affect Constable; he came from a wealthy family and the revolution only served to enrich the rich. Through family friends and business associates Constable was exposed to what was considered the best art of his day and this led him to develop his own painting style which is illustrated in The Haywain. Unlike the symmetrical, classical landscapes of Claude Lorraine widely considered the pinnacle of landscape painting even up until Constable's day, The Haywain is portrayed as a real scene and so symmetry is not as important as realism in the piece. Instead Constable sketched out what he saw and, ultimately, what he knew well, having lived near this farm as a boy. Complete and perfect beauty, something that could only be created in a mythical or biblical world, was popular in Constable's time. The artist painted nature as it was, and his work was a breath of fresh air in an art world full of overly dramatic and stylized landscapes. In keeping with the artist's love of nature, natural tones are predominant in The Haywain and there is contrast between the pool of water, the tall delicate trees and the strong brick house on the left. The different shades complement each other and repeat to add harmony to this piece: the blue of the pool is reflected in the sky and the red of the house is subtly highlighted in the trees and horse's tack. The trees and grass surround the entire composition with the relief of the disappearing yellow meadows on the right helping to keep the painting from feeling closed in or too claustrophobic. Please note: this is just an example. Get a card now.