\n To celebrate the 250th of John Constable, one of Britain’s most famous painters, his masterpiece The Hay Wain is now on display at Ipswich’s Christchurch Mansion following a loan from the National Gallery.\n<\/p>\n
\n Saturday, July 11 marks the first day of the exhibition of Constable250 which showcases some of the painter’s most iconic work in the county he was so fond of.\n<\/p>\n
\n John Constable’s palate, on display at Christchurch Mansion (Image: Oli Picton)\n<\/p>\n
\n The Hay Wain was painted at Constable’s London studio, and depicts Flatford Mill, however the painting has never been seen in Suffolk in its history.\n<\/p>\n
\n Wendy Sheppard, a volunteer at Christchurch Mansion said: “It’s a bit overwhelming actually. We were we were very lucky as volunteers and staff to be able to come down on Thursday to do a preview.\n<\/p>\n
\n Wendy Sheppard, a volunteer at Christchurch Mansion (Image: Oli Picton)\n<\/p>\n
\n “When I walked into the room, the exhibition just felt so inviting and welcoming, and quite emotional.\n<\/p>\n
\n “[Visitors] have been gravitating towards it straight away and it’s the first time actually I’ve seen queues of people that were waiting outside the mansion which is so exciting.”\n<\/p>\n
\n (Image: Oli Picton)\n<\/p>\n
\n Carole Jones, portfolio holder for planning and museums at Ipswich Borough Council, previously said: “Constable 250 is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to celebrate the landscapes and influences that inspired one of Britain\u2019s greatest artists, and we\u2019re proud that as the county town of Suffolk, Ipswich is playing such a central role.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Welcoming The Hay Wain to Christchurch Mansion for the first time is an extraordinary moment for us, bringing this iconic painting back to the county which shaped it.\n<\/p>\n
\n “This will be a landmark moment and highlight of the council\u2019s wider, year-long programme.”\n<\/p>\n
About John Constable<\/p>\n
\n Constable was born in East Bergholt, the son of corn and coal merchant Golding Constable and his wife Ann.\n<\/p>\n
\n He grew up in what is now \u201cConstable Country\u201d, making amateur sketching trips around the Stour valley that became the lifelong subject of his art. After initially working in the family business, he persuaded his family to support his artistic ambitions and entered the Royal Academy Schools in London in 1799.\n<\/p>\n
\n When The Hay Wain was first shown at the Royal Academy in 1821 under its original title, it failed to find a buyer and British reaction was muted. Its fortunes changed after the picture was taken to France: exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1824, it won a gold medal and helped establish Constable\u2019s reputation among French artists and collectors.\n<\/p>\n
\n French painters such as Th\u00e9odore G\u00e9ricault admired the work, and a dealer, John Arrowsmith, bought several Constable landscapes including The Hay Wain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To celebrate the 250th of John Constable, one of Britain’s most famous painters, his masterpiece The Hay Wain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-695819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}