Haystacks (Monet series)

The Haystacks are a series of impressionist paintings by Claude Monet whose primary subjects are haystacks. He completed a 25 canvas series of Haystacks beginning in the summer of 1890 and concluding in the following spring. This concept enabled him to use repetition to show nuances of perception as seasons, time of day, and weather changed. They are considered his most important series. 15 of these were exhibited by Durand-Ruel in May 1891.

He used the concept of series painting in the 1880s and 1890s. He focussed on Haystacks and a few other subjects (Poplars, Rouen Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, the Waterlilies). His main motif was the portrayal transient appearances from the same angle with light, season, time of day, and whether varying. It was in vogue to abandon the studio for the outdoors. He often worked on several canvases at once. The technique he used enabled him to capture his variations by time of day. He would awake before dawn so as to begin work on his painting set at the earliest time of day (dawn). As the morning progressed and the light changed he would switch to sequentially later canvas settings. He had to repeat this process for several days. Then as when the seasons changed he would restart anew.

Certain time of day only last for a few minutes and thus these canvases only got his attention for a few minutes a day. For example, the light at dawn and the light at the subsequent sunrise are substantially different and could require different canvases if these were two canvases he desired to depict in a part of a series.

The haystacks are painted with different colorings. Each coloring depicts the perceptible reflected light. At different times of day and during different seasons the haystacks absorb the light from different parts of the color spectrum. As a result, we are able to view the residual light that is reflected off of the haystacks as different colors.

Many notable painters have been influenced by this particular series including 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”.

Monet painted numerous canvases of Haystacks apart from this series of 25. However, they were generally not painted using this series technique.

The Haystacks series was an immediate financial success. Most sold immediately for as much as 1,000 francs. 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.