#42 The Hay Wain — Coaster

Constable showed this in London in 1821 and it did not sell. Three years later it went to the Paris Salon, won a gold medal from the French king, and startled a generation of French painters who had never seen English weather handled that way. Delacroix is said to have reworked part of a canvas after seeing it — but what is certain is that Constable's reputation came home to England from France. The National Gallery, London.