Bristol is home to one of the most well-known paintings by John Constable. The centerpiece of the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery’s National Treasures: Truth to Nature exhibition began on Friday, May 10 and runs until September 1.
Alexandra Kavanagh, head of national touring exhibitions at the National Gallery, said: “We are so excited to see this display bring a fresh perspective to The Hay Wain, and particularly see its themes echoed alongside contemporary installations.
In honor of the London Museum‘s 200th anniversary, the National Gallery has leased the Hay Wain. The Hay Wain is an English landscape painting by Constable from 1821.
Viewers in Bristol will have the opportunity to examine it up close as well as in relation to other landscape paintings, which will include eleven oil sketches by Constable that are lent by the Victoria & Albert Museum.
The exhibition will delve into the significance of landscape, how artists have historically interpreted humanity’s relationship to the natural world, and how contemporary landscape art addresses issues of migration, class, colonialism, LGBT identity, and climate change.
Julia Carver, curator at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, said: “It has been an honour to work on the Truth to Nature exhibition, using The Hay Wain as a starting point to bring together pieces that deal with our human response to nature and the land.”
