Sunday was the opening day of a phenomenal new exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, the next big thing now that the Rousseau exhibit is nearing its close. Constable’s Great Landscapes: The Six-Foot Paintings is a beautiful show — compulsory if you already like the work of John Constable and highly recommended if the English painter has just never grown on you. This exhibit is on the middle leg of its journey through three museums, having just appeared at Tate Britain in London and destined next for the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, this winter.

The main draw of this exhibition is the opportunity to see all of the large landscapes that Constable painted for academic consideration, which have become his most iconic works. Not only can you stand in front of The Haywain (pictured) and Stratford Mill (released by the National Gallery in London), and other greats such as The White Horse (The Frick Collection) and The Opening of Waterloo Bridge (Tate Britain), you can also compare almost every finished painting with a full-size oil sketch (hung side by side) and often other studies from different museums. This is the first opportunity to see these works together in one building since Constable died in 1837.