Haystacks (Monet)
Encyclopedia
Haystacks is a title of a series
of impressionist
painting
s by Claude Monet
. The primary subjects of all of the paintings in the series are stacks of hay
in the field after the harvest season. The title refers primarily to a twenty-five canvas series (Wildenstein Index Number
1266-1290) begun in the end of summer of 1890 and continued through the following spring, using that year's harvest
. Some use a broader definition of the title to refer to other paintings by Monet with this same theme. The series is known for its thematic
use of repetition to show differences in perception
of light
across various times of day, seasons, and types of weather
. The subjects were painted in fields near Monet's home in Giverny
, France
.
The series is among Monet's most notable works. Although the largest collections of Monet's work are held in Paris
at the Musée d'Orsay
and Musée Marmottan Monet, Boston
, Massachusetts
at the Museum of Fine Arts
, New York City
at the Metropolitan Museum and Museum of Modern Art
and Tokyo
at the National Museum of Western Art, six of the twenty-five haystacks pieces are currently housed at the Art Institute of Chicago
in Chicago, Illinois
, United States
. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, United States
holds two, and the Musée d'Orsay
in Paris, France
holds one. Other museums that hold parts of this series in their collection include the Getty Center
in Los Angeles
, Hill-Stead Museum
in Farmington, Connecticut
(which also has one of five from the earlier 1888-9 harvest), National Gallery of Scotland
in Edinburgh
, Scotland
, United Kingdom
, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
in Minneapolis, Minnesota
, United States, Kunsthaus Zürich
in Zürich
, Switzerland
, and Shelburne Museum
, Shelburne, Vermont
, United States. Several private collections also hold Haystack paintings.
in 1883. Most of his paintings from 1883 until his death 40 years later were of scenes within 3 kilometres (2 mi) of his home. Indeed, the haystacks themselves were situated just outside his door. He was intensely aware of and fascinated by the visual nuances of the region’s landscape and the variation in the seasons.
Monet had already painted the same subject in different moods. However, as he matured as a painter, his depictions of atmospheric
influences were increasingly concerned not only with specific effects, but with overall color harmonies that allowed for an autonomous use of rich color. The conventional wisdom was that the compact, solid haystacks were both a simple subject and an unimaginative one. However, contemporary writers and friends of the artist noted that Monet's subject matter was always carefully chosen, the product of careful thought and analysis. Monet undertook a study of capturing their vibrance under direct light, and juxtaposing the same subject from the same view in more muted atmospheric conditions. It was not unusual for Monet to alter the canvases back in his studio, in search of harmonious transitions within the series.
region of France by emphasizing the beauty and prosperity of the countryside. The haystacks functioned as storage facilities that preserved the wheat until stalk and chaff could be more efficiently separated. The Norman
method of storing hay was to use hay as a cover to shield ears of wheat from the elements until they could be threshed. The threshing machines traveled from village to village. Thus, although the wheat was harvested in July it often took until March for all the farms to be reached. These stacks became common in the mid 19th century. This method survived for 100 years, until the inception of combine harvesters. Although shapes of stacks were regional, it was common for them to be round in the Paris basin
and the region of Normandy in which Giverny is situated.
Monet noticed this subject on a casual walk. He requested that his stepdaughter Blanche Hoschedé bring him two canvases. He believed that one canvas for overcast weather and one for sunny weather would be sufficient. However, he realized he could not demonstrate the several distinct impressions on one or two canvases. As a result, his willing helper was quickly carting as many canvases as a wheelbarrow
could hold. His daily routine involved carting paint
s, easel
s, and many unfinished canvases and working on whichever canvas most closely resembled the scene of the moment as conditions fluctuated. Although he began painting realistic depictions en plein air
, he eventually revised initial effects in a studio to both generate contrast and preserve the harmony within the series.
Monet produced numerous Haystack paintings. His earlier landscapes
(Wildenstein Index Number 900-995, 1073) had included haystacks in an ancillary manner. Monet had also produced five paintings (Wildenstein Index Numbers 1213-1217) with haystacks as the primary subject during the 1888 harvest. The general consensus is that only the canvases produced using the 1890 harvest (Wildenstein Index Number 1266-1290) comprise the haystacks series proper. However, some include several additional paintings when referencing this series. For example, Hill-Stead Museum
discusses their two serial haystack or grainstack paintings even though one is from the 1890 harvest and the other is from the 1888 harvest.
This series is one of Monet's earliest that relied on thematic repetition to illustrate nuances in perception across natural variation such as times of day, seasons, and types of weather. For Monet, the concept of producing and exhibiting a series of paintings related by subject and vantage point began in 1889, with at least ten paintings done at the Valley of the Creuse, and subsequently shown at the Galerie
Georges Petit
. This interest in the serial motif would continue for the rest of his career.
Beginning in the 1880s and 1890s, Monet focused on Haystacks and a number of other subjects (other series included the Mornings on the Seine
, Poplar
s, Rouen Cathedral
, the Houses of Parliament
, and the Water Lilies
, among others). In order to work on many paintings virtually simultaneously, he would awake before dawn
so as to begin at the earliest time of day:
As the morning progressed and the light changed he would switch to sequentially later canvas settings, sometimes working on as many as ten or twelve paintings a day, each one depicting a slightly different aspect of light. The process would be repeated over the course of days, weeks, or months, depending on the weather and the progress of the paintings, until they were completed. As the seasons changed the process was renewed.
Certain effects of light only last for a few minutes, thus the canvases documenting such ephemera received attention for no more than a few minutes a day. Further complicating matters, the light of subsequent sunrise
s, for example, could alter substantially, and would require separate canvases within the series. Subsequently, different hue
s are evident in each painting, and in each work color
is used to describe not only direct but reflected light. At differing times of day and in various seasons haystacks absorb the light from diverse parts of the color spectrum
. As a result, the residual light that is reflected off of the haystacks is seen as ever-changing, and manifests in distinctive coloring.
Many notable painters have been influenced by this particular series including Les Fauves, Derain and Vlaminck
. Kandinsky's memoirs refer to the series: “What suddenly became clear to me was the unsuspected power of the palette, which I had not understood before and which surpassed my wildest dreams.”
The Haystacks series was a financial success. Fifteen of these were exhibited by Durand-Ruel in May 1891, and every painting sold within days. The exhibit met with great public acclaim. Octave Mirbeau
described Monet's daring series as representing "what lies beyond progress itself." Others described the grainstacks as "faces of the landscape," and viewers seemed to take assurance that the series would help preserve rural traditions despite industrialization and urbanization
. They represented the countryside as a retreat from daily problems and home for contentment with nature. Camille Pissarro
said "These canvases breathe contentment." Most of the paintings sold immediately for as much as 1,000 franc
s. Additionally, Monet’s prices in general began to rise steeply. As a result, he was able to buy outright the house and grounds at Giverny
and to start constructing a waterlily
pond
. After years of mere subsistence living he was able to enjoy success.
The series demonstrates his intense study of light and atmospheric conditions and Monet was a perfectionist in his renderings. Monet destroyed more than one series of paintings that he found wanting. However, this series escaped his own harsh self-criticism and destruction.
and a few Giverny
houses to the right. Then, he turned to his left to capture two scenes (1216-7) in which the hills are shrouded by a line of poplars.
Serial imagery
Serial imagery is a central idea of modern and contemporary art. The Impressionists and their contemporaries were the first to use it, for example Claude Monet in his Poplars, Haystacks or Rouen Cathedral....
of impressionist
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s by Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
. The primary subjects of all of the paintings in the series are stacks of hay
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
in the field after the harvest season. The title refers primarily to a twenty-five canvas series (Wildenstein Index Number
Wildenstein Index Number
A Wildenstein Index Number refers to an item in a numerical system published in catalogues by Daniel Wildenstein, a scholar of Impressionism, who published catalogues raisonnés of artists such as Claude Monet, Edouard Manet and Paul Gauguin through his family business, Wildenstein & Company. In...
1266-1290) begun in the end of summer of 1890 and continued through the following spring, using that year's harvest
Harvest
Harvest is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper...
. Some use a broader definition of the title to refer to other paintings by Monet with this same theme. The series is known for its thematic
Theme (arts)
In the visual arts, a theme is a broad idea or a message conveyed by a work, such as a performance, a painting, or a motion picture. This message is usually about life, society or human nature. Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a work. Themes are usually implied...
use of repetition to show differences in perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
of light
Light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...
across various times of day, seasons, and types of weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
. The subjects were painted in fields near Monet's home in Giverny
Giverny
Giverny is a commune in the Eure department in north-western France. It is best known as the location of Claude Monet's garden and home.-Location:Giverny sits on the "right bank" of the River Seine where the river Epte meets the Seine...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
The series is among Monet's most notable works. Although the largest collections of Monet's work are held in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
at the Musée d'Orsay
Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture,...
and Musée Marmottan Monet, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
at the Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at the Metropolitan Museum and Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
at the National Museum of Western Art, six of the twenty-five haystacks pieces are currently housed at the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
in Chicago, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
holds two, and the Musée d'Orsay
Musée d'Orsay
The Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture,...
in Paris, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
holds one. Other museums that hold parts of this series in their collection include the Getty Center
Getty Center
The Getty Center, in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, is a campus for cultural institutions founded by oilman J. Paul Getty. The $1.3 billion center, which opened on December 16, 1997, is also well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Hill-Stead Museum
Hill-Stead Museum
Hill-Stead Museum, also known as Hill-Stead, is a Colonial Revival house and art museum in Farmington, Connecticut, USA. It is best known for its French Impressionist masterpieces, architecture, and stately grounds.-House and museum:...
in Farmington, Connecticut
Farmington, Connecticut
Farmington is a town located in Hartford County in the Farmington Valley area of central Connecticut in the United States. The population was 25,340 at the 2010 census. It is home to the world headquarters of several large corporations including Carrier Corporation, Otis Elevator Company, and Carvel...
(which also has one of five from the earlier 1888-9 harvest), National Gallery of Scotland
National Gallery of Scotland
The National Gallery of Scotland, in Edinburgh, is the national art gallery of Scotland. An elaborate neoclassical edifice, it stands on The Mound, between the two sections of Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is a fine art museum located in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on a campus that covers nearly 8 acres , formerly Morrison Park...
in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, United States, Kunsthaus Zürich
Kunsthaus Zürich
The Kunsthaus Zürich houses one of the most important art museums in Switzerland and Europe, collected by the local Kunstverein, called Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, and holdings running from the Middle Ages to contemporary art, with an emphasis on Swiss art.Kunsthaus is also the name of the tram stop...
in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
, Shelburne, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, United States. Several private collections also hold Haystack paintings.
Monet background
Monet settled in GivernyGiverny
Giverny is a commune in the Eure department in north-western France. It is best known as the location of Claude Monet's garden and home.-Location:Giverny sits on the "right bank" of the River Seine where the river Epte meets the Seine...
in 1883. Most of his paintings from 1883 until his death 40 years later were of scenes within 3 kilometres (2 mi) of his home. Indeed, the haystacks themselves were situated just outside his door. He was intensely aware of and fascinated by the visual nuances of the region’s landscape and the variation in the seasons.
Monet had already painted the same subject in different moods. However, as he matured as a painter, his depictions of atmospheric
Atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...
influences were increasingly concerned not only with specific effects, but with overall color harmonies that allowed for an autonomous use of rich color. The conventional wisdom was that the compact, solid haystacks were both a simple subject and an unimaginative one. However, contemporary writers and friends of the artist noted that Monet's subject matter was always carefully chosen, the product of careful thought and analysis. Monet undertook a study of capturing their vibrance under direct light, and juxtaposing the same subject from the same view in more muted atmospheric conditions. It was not unusual for Monet to alter the canvases back in his studio, in search of harmonious transitions within the series.
Series background
The stacks depicted herein are variously referred to as haystacks and grainstacks. The 15 foot stacks emblematized the NormandyNormandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
region of France by emphasizing the beauty and prosperity of the countryside. The haystacks functioned as storage facilities that preserved the wheat until stalk and chaff could be more efficiently separated. The Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
method of storing hay was to use hay as a cover to shield ears of wheat from the elements until they could be threshed. The threshing machines traveled from village to village. Thus, although the wheat was harvested in July it often took until March for all the farms to be reached. These stacks became common in the mid 19th century. This method survived for 100 years, until the inception of combine harvesters. Although shapes of stacks were regional, it was common for them to be round in the Paris basin
Paris Basin (geology)
The Paris Basin is one of the major geological regions of France having developed since the Triassic on a basement formed by the Variscan orogeny.-Extent:...
and the region of Normandy in which Giverny is situated.
Monet noticed this subject on a casual walk. He requested that his stepdaughter Blanche Hoschedé bring him two canvases. He believed that one canvas for overcast weather and one for sunny weather would be sufficient. However, he realized he could not demonstrate the several distinct impressions on one or two canvases. As a result, his willing helper was quickly carting as many canvases as a wheelbarrow
Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles to the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a...
could hold. His daily routine involved carting paint
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
s, easel
Easel
An easel is an upright support used for displaying and/or fixing something resting upon it.-Etymology:The word is an old Germanic synonym for donkey...
s, and many unfinished canvases and working on whichever canvas most closely resembled the scene of the moment as conditions fluctuated. Although he began painting realistic depictions en plein air
En plein air
En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors.Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century working in natural light became particularly important to the Barbizon school and Impressionism...
, he eventually revised initial effects in a studio to both generate contrast and preserve the harmony within the series.
Monet produced numerous Haystack paintings. His earlier landscapes
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
(Wildenstein Index Number 900-995, 1073) had included haystacks in an ancillary manner. Monet had also produced five paintings (Wildenstein Index Numbers 1213-1217) with haystacks as the primary subject during the 1888 harvest. The general consensus is that only the canvases produced using the 1890 harvest (Wildenstein Index Number 1266-1290) comprise the haystacks series proper. However, some include several additional paintings when referencing this series. For example, Hill-Stead Museum
Hill-Stead Museum
Hill-Stead Museum, also known as Hill-Stead, is a Colonial Revival house and art museum in Farmington, Connecticut, USA. It is best known for its French Impressionist masterpieces, architecture, and stately grounds.-House and museum:...
discusses their two serial haystack or grainstack paintings even though one is from the 1890 harvest and the other is from the 1888 harvest.
This series is one of Monet's earliest that relied on thematic repetition to illustrate nuances in perception across natural variation such as times of day, seasons, and types of weather. For Monet, the concept of producing and exhibiting a series of paintings related by subject and vantage point began in 1889, with at least ten paintings done at the Valley of the Creuse, and subsequently shown at the Galerie
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
Georges Petit
Georges Petit
Georges Petit was a French art dealer, a key figure in the Paris art world and an important promoter and cultivator of Impressionist artists.-Early career:...
. This interest in the serial motif would continue for the rest of his career.
Thematic issues
Although the mundane subject was constant throughout this series, the underlying theme may be seen as the transience of light. This concept enabled him to use repetition to show nuances of perception as seasons, time of day, and weather changes. The constant subject provided the basis from which comparisons could be made in changes of light across this nuanced series. The first paintings in the series were started in late September or early October 1890, and he continued producing these paintings for about seven months. These paintings made Monet the first painter to paint such a large quantity of pictures of the same subject matter differentiated by light, weather, atmosphere and perspective.Beginning in the 1880s and 1890s, Monet focused on Haystacks and a number of other subjects (other series included the Mornings on the Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
, Poplar
Poplar Series (Monet)
The Poplar Series paintings were made by Claude Monet in the summer and fall of 1891. The magnificent trees were in a marsh along the banks of the Epte River a few kilometers upstream from Monet's home and studio. To reach his floating painting studio that was moored in place he went by small boat...
s, Rouen Cathedral
Rouen Cathedral (Monet)
The Rouen Cathedral series captures the façade of the cathedral at different times of the day and year, and reflects changes in its appearance under different lighting conditions.-Date:...
, the Houses of Parliament
London Parliament (Monet)
Claude Monet painted a series of paintings of the Palace of Westminster, home of the British Parliament, during his stays in London between the years 1900-1904. The paintings have all the same size and viewpoint, Monet's window at St Thomas' Hospital overlooking the Thames...
, and the Water Lilies
Water Lilies
Water Lilies is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet . The paintings depict Monet's flower garden at Giverny and were the main focus of Monet's artistic production during the last thirty years of his life...
, among others). In order to work on many paintings virtually simultaneously, he would awake before dawn
Dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of the twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the presence of weak sunlight, while the sun itself is still below the horizon...
so as to begin at the earliest time of day:
As the morning progressed and the light changed he would switch to sequentially later canvas settings, sometimes working on as many as ten or twelve paintings a day, each one depicting a slightly different aspect of light. The process would be repeated over the course of days, weeks, or months, depending on the weather and the progress of the paintings, until they were completed. As the seasons changed the process was renewed.
Certain effects of light only last for a few minutes, thus the canvases documenting such ephemera received attention for no more than a few minutes a day. Further complicating matters, the light of subsequent sunrise
Sunrise
Sunrise is the instant at which the upper edge of the Sun appears above the horizon in the east. Sunrise should not be confused with dawn, which is the point at which the sky begins to lighten, some time before the sun itself appears, ending twilight...
s, for example, could alter substantially, and would require separate canvases within the series. Subsequently, different hue
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
s are evident in each painting, and in each work color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
is used to describe not only direct but reflected light. At differing times of day and in various seasons haystacks absorb the light from diverse parts of the color spectrum
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
. As a result, the residual light that is reflected off of the haystacks is seen as ever-changing, and manifests in distinctive coloring.
Many notable painters have been influenced by this particular series including Les Fauves, Derain and Vlaminck
Maurice de Vlaminck
Maurice de Vlaminck was a French painter. Along with André Derain and Henri Matisse he is considered one of the principal figures in the Fauve movement, a group of modern artists who from 1904 to 1908 were united in their use of intense color.-Life:Maurice de Vlaminck was born in Paris to a family...
. Kandinsky's memoirs refer to the series: “What suddenly became clear to me was the unsuspected power of the palette, which I had not understood before and which surpassed my wildest dreams.”
Octave Mirbeau
Octave Mirbeau was a French journalist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, novelist, and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, while still appealing to the literary and artistic avant-garde...
described Monet's daring series as representing "what lies beyond progress itself." Others described the grainstacks as "faces of the landscape," and viewers seemed to take assurance that the series would help preserve rural traditions despite industrialization and urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
. They represented the countryside as a retreat from daily problems and home for contentment with nature. Camille Pissarro
Camille Pissarro
Camille Pissarro was a French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas . His importance resides in his contributions to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, as he was the only artist to exhibit in both forms...
said "These canvases breathe contentment." Most of the paintings sold immediately for as much as 1,000 franc
Franc
The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...
s. Additionally, Monet’s prices in general began to rise steeply. As a result, he was able to buy outright the house and grounds at Giverny
Giverny
Giverny is a commune in the Eure department in north-western France. It is best known as the location of Claude Monet's garden and home.-Location:Giverny sits on the "right bank" of the River Seine where the river Epte meets the Seine...
and to start constructing a waterlily
Nymphaeaceae
Nymphaeaceae is a family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called water lilies and live in freshwater areas in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains eight genera. There are about 70 species of water lilies around the world. The genus...
pond
Pond
A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...
. After years of mere subsistence living he was able to enjoy success.
The series demonstrates his intense study of light and atmospheric conditions and Monet was a perfectionist in his renderings. Monet destroyed more than one series of paintings that he found wanting. However, this series escaped his own harsh self-criticism and destruction.
1888-1889 paintings
From the 1888 harvest Monet produced three canvases featuring two stacks each (Wildenstein #'s 1213-5) against the backdrop of hills along the left bank of the SeineSeine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
and a few Giverny
Giverny
Giverny is a commune in the Eure department in north-western France. It is best known as the location of Claude Monet's garden and home.-Location:Giverny sits on the "right bank" of the River Seine where the river Epte meets the Seine...
houses to the right. Then, he turned to his left to capture two scenes (1216-7) in which the hills are shrouded by a line of poplars.