Image caption,

The oil painting which belongs to the National Gallery is on tour

By Kerry Aitken & Angela Johnston

BBC North East & Cumbria

An oil painting by one of England's most celebrated artists has been hung in an empty store at a shopping centre.

The Cornfield was painted by John Constable in 1826, five years after his The Hay Wain masterpiece, and depicts the Suffolk countryside in summer.

Owned by the National Gallery, it is on display at the Viking Shopping Centre in Jarrow as part of the museum's tour.

It has attracted a number of art fans, among them James Hays from Gosforth who described it as "real life".

"I don't like modern art, I've tried to study it and make something of it and I can't - but this is looking at life, it's real," added Mr Hays.

Image caption,

James Hays is no fan of modern art but thought the painting was like "looking at life"

The work was painted in January to March in the artist's London studio. The lane winding into the cornfield is based on Fen Lane, where Constable had often walked as a boy from his own village of East Bergholt to Dedham, where he went to school.