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 (Wildenstein Index Number 1266-1290) beginning in the summer of 1890 using the 1890 grain harvest. Some of his early paintings (Wildenstein Index Number 900-995, 1073) had often included little grainstacks in an ancillary manner. Monet had produced paintings (Wildenstein Index Numbers 1213-1217) with haystacks as the primary subject using the 1888 harvest. However, traditionalists only consider the 25 canvases produced using the 1890 harvest as the primary subject to be part of the haystacks series. Some consider the additional 5 canvases from the 1888 harvest to be a part of the series as well. However, this is not the general consensus. They are considered his most important series. 15 of these were exhibited by Durand-Ruel in May 1891. Every haystacks painting sold within days.

Thematic Issues

Although the mundane subject was constant throughout this series, the series challenges the viewer to understand the theme of light. This concept enabled him to use repetition to show nuances of perception as seasons, time of day, and weather changed. The constant subject provided the basis from which differences in perceived light comparisons could be made across this nuanced series.

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 create as 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. After years of mere subsistence living he was able to enjoy success. Monet maintained high artistic standards to ensure that the series demonstrating his intense studies of conditions were incredibly popular by serving as his own harshest critic. Notably, he destroyed more than one entire series of paintings.

Monet Background

Settled in Giverny in 1883. Most of his paintings from 1883 until his death 40 years later were of scenes within 2 miles of his home. He was very intimate with the nuances of the region’s landscape and the variation in the seasons.

Basically, believed that there is no inherent subject. In fact the subject was always of secondary importance because a subject is always influenced by the dynamic lighting environment which makes it impossible for a subject to be constant. A subject is what the light makes of it at any given moment. By focusing on a subject that offered a broad array of colors and tones and emphasizing his chromatic perceptions he could capture a very intriguing serial study.

He had already painted the same subject in different moods. However, as he matured as a painter his depictions of the atmospheric influences became so systematic as to border on the scientific. The conventional wisdom was that the compact, solid haystacks were both a simple subject and an unimaginative one. However, Monet undertook a study of capturing their vibrance in the proper beaming lights and juxtaposing the same subject from the same view in more muted atmospheric conditions. Oddly, Monet actually had to alter the canvases when he finally had a chance to view the series in his studio so that was a sufficiently smooth transition within the series.

Haystack Background

As an aside the stacks are variously referred to as haystack and grainstacks. The reason is that the Norman method of storing grain was to use hay as cover to shield the ears of the grain from the elements until they could be threshed. The threshing machines traveled from village to village. Thus, although the grain 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 combine harvesters evolved. It should be noted that although shapes of stacks were regional it was common for them to be round in the Paris basin and the part of Normandy that Giverny is situated.

Monet noticed this subject on a casual walk. He requested that his stepdaughter Blanche Hoschedé bring him 2 canvases under the belief that one for overcast whether and one for sunny weather would be sufficient. However, he realized he could not be true to himself as an artist and demonstrate the several distinct impressions on a single canvas or on just two canvases. Thus, he realized he needed an array of adjacent canvases. As a result, his willing helper was quickly carting as many canvases as a wheelbarrow could hold.

Sources

Heinrich, Christoph, Claude Monet, Benedikt Taschen Verlag GmbH, 2000

Sagner, Karin, Monet at Giverny, Prestel Verlag

Wildenstein, Daniel, Monet: or the Triumph of Impressionism, 2006, Taschen GmbH

Published on the occasion of the Exhibition Monet’s Years at Giverny: Beyond Impressionism Organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in association with the St. Louis Art Museum, 1978, Abradale Press/Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

Haystacks Series 1890-1891

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• Haystacks at the End of Summer, Morning Effect, 1891 Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France
  Haystacks at the End of Summer, Morning Effect, 1891 Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France
• File:Image Wheatstacks (End of Summer), 1890-91 (190 Kb); Oil on canvas, 60 x 100 cm (23 5-8 x 39 3-8 in), The Art Institute of Chicago.jpg
• File:Claude Monet. Haystack. End of the Summer. Morning. 1891. Oil on canvas. Louvre, Paris, France..JPG
• File:Haystacks in the Sunlight, Midday, 1890, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia.jpg
• File:Claude Monet,Meules, milieu du jour -Haystacks, midday- 1890, oil on canvas,65.6 (h) x 100.6 (w) cm.jpg
• File:Claude Monet. Haystack at the Sunset near Giverny. 1891. Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA..JPG
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• File:1290 Grainstack in the Sunlight, 1891, Oil on Canvas, Private Collection.JPG
• Haystack at Sunset near Giverny (Meule, Soleil Couchant), 1891, oil on canvas, 73.3 x 92.6 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
  Haystack at Sunset near Giverny (Meule, Soleil Couchant), 1891, oil on canvas, 73.3 x 92.6 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
• File:Claude Monet, Grainstack, Sun in the Mist, 1891, oil on canvas, Minneapolis Institute of Arts..jpg
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• Haystack, Morning Snow Effect (Meule, Effet de Neige, le Matin), 1891, oil on canvas, 65 x 92 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
  Haystack, Morning Snow Effect (Meule, Effet de Neige, le Matin), 1891, oil on canvas, 65 x 92 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
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• File:Haystacks in Sunshine (Snow Effect) 1890.JPG
• File:Meule, degel, soleil couchant (Grainstack, Thaw, Sunset), 1891, Art Institute of Chicago..jpg
• File:Meule, Effet de Neige, le Matin (Morning Snow Effect), 1891..jpg
• File:Meule, effet de gelee blanche (Grainstack, White Frost Effect), 1891, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh..jpg
• File:Grainstacks, White Frost Effect Monet Haystacks Winter.jpg
• 1274. Grainstacks Snow Effect, (Meules, effet de neige), 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT
  1274. Grainstacks Snow Effect, (Meules, effet de neige), 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT
• File:1281 Grainstack Overcast Weather Snow Effect, Meule, effet de neige, temps couvert, 1891, 65x92, Oil on Canvas, Art Institute of Chicago.JPG

1888-89 Haystack Paintings

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• File:(1213) Monet Haystacks 1888-9 series.jpeg

Other Haystacks

• Haystacks at Chailly at Sunrise, 1865, oil on canvas, 11 7/8 x 23 3/4" (30 x 60 cm), San Diego Museum of Art
  Haystacks at Chailly at Sunrise, 1865, oil on canvas, 11 7/8 x 23 3/4" (30 x 60 cm), San Diego Museum of Art

External Link

Modern Impressionist Lighting Experiment (This is quite educational and relevant to the topic at hand).