John Constable

John Constable's paintings join observation of the English countryside with studio composition. Outdoor oil sketches recorded light, clouds, and vegetation for larger exhibition pictures. The Hay Wain depicts an empty wagon crossing the River Stour beside Willy Lott's house at Flatford, with haymakers in the distance. Constable completed it in London, drawing on outdoor studies and a full-size oil sketch. His Salisbury Cathedral paintings similarly place architecture within a studied landscape.