Haystacks (Monet)

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1 The Series
2 Thematic issues
3 Monet background
4 Haystack background
5 References
- 5.1 Notes
6 Sources
7 Haystacks series 1890-1891
8 1888-89 Haystack Paintings
9 Other Haystacks
10 External links

1269. Wheatstacks (End of Summer), 1890-91, Oil on canvas, 60 x 100 cm (23 5-8 x 39 3-8 in), Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

Haystacks is the title of a series of impressionist paintings by Claude Monet whose primary subjects are stacks of grain. The title refers primarily to a twenty-five canvas series (Wildenstein Index Number 1266-1290) begun in the summer of 1890, using that year's grain harvest. 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 haystacks subjects were haystacks in Giverny, France.

[edit] The Series

Some include several additional paintings in reference to this series. 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.^[1] However, the general consensus is that only the canvases produced using the 1890 harvest comprise the haystacks series proper. Fifteen of these were exhibited by Durand-Ruel in May 1891, and every painting sold within days.^[2]

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.^[3] This interest in the serial motif would continue for the rest of his career.

[edit] 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 changed. The constant subject provided the basis from which comparisons could be made in changes of light across this nuanced series.

During the 1880s and 1890s Monet focused on Haystacks and a number of other subjects (other series included the Poplars, Rouen Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament, and the Waterlilies). 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 sunrises, for example, could alter substantially, and would require separate canvases within the series. Subsequently, different hues 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 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. Most of the paintings 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.

The series demonstrates his intense study of light and atmospheric conditions; Monet destroyed more than one series of paintings that he found wanting.

[edit] Monet background

Monet settled in Giverny in 1883. Most of his paintings from 1883 until his death 40 years later were of scenes within 3 kilometers of his home. Indeed, the grainstacks themselves were literally situated just outside his door.^[4] 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 the atmospheric influences seemed to 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, contemporary writers and friends of the artist noted that Monet's subject matter was always carefully chosen, the product of careful thought and analysis.^[5] 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.^[6]

[edit] Haystack background

Such stacks are variously referred to as haystacks and grainstacks.^[7] The Norman method of storing grain was to use hay as a cover to shield ears of 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 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 2 canvases. He believed that one canvas for overcast weather and one for sunny weather would be sufficient.^[8] 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.

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

^ Tucker, 1989, p.31
^ Tucker, 1989, p.77
^ Tucker, 1989, p.41
^ Tucker, 1989, p.87
^ Tucker, 1989, p.33
^ Tucker, 1989, p.79
^ Gerdts, p. 17
^ Kelder, p. 183

[edit] Sources

Heinrich, Christoph, Claude Monet, Benedikt Taschen Verlag GmbH, 2000
Gerdts, William H., Monet's Giverny: An Impressionist Colony, Abbeville Press Publishhers, 1993.
Kelder, Diane, The Great Book of French Impressionism, Abbeville Press Publishers, 1980.
Sagner, Karin, Monet at Giverny, Prestel Verlag
Stuckey, Charles F., Claude Monet 1840-1926, 1995, co-published by The Art Institute of Chicago and Thames and Hudson.
Tucker, Paul Hayes, Monet in the '90s: The Series Paintings, 1989, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in association with Yale University Press
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.

[edit] Haystacks series 1890-1891

	1269. Wheatstacks (End of Summer), 1890-91, Oil on canvas, 60 x 100 cm (23 5-8 x 39 3-8 in), Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago	1270. Wheatstacks, 1890-91, 65.8 x 101 cm, (25 7-8 x 39 3-4 in), Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago	Haystacks at the End of Summer, Morning Effect, 1891 Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France
		Haystack, Morning Snow Effect (Meule, Effet de Neige, le Matin), 1891, oil on canvas, 65 x 92 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston	1274. Grainstacks Snow Effect, (Meules, effet de neige), 1890-91, 60 x 100cm, Oil on Canvas, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, Connecticut
1278. Wheatstacks (Sunset, Snow Effect), 1890-91, 65.3 x 100.4 cm, (25 11-16 x 39 1-2 in.), Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago	1281. Wheatstack (Snow Effect, Overcast day) (Meule, effet de neige, temps couvert), 1890-91, 66 x 93 cm, (26 x 36 5-8), Oil on Canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago	1283. Wheatstack, 1890-91, 65.6 x 92 cm, (25 13-16 x 36 1-4 in), Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago	1284. Wheatstack (Thaw, Sunset), 1890-91, 66 x 93, (26 x 36 5-8 in), Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
1286. Wheatstack (Sun in the Mist), 1891, 65 x 100 cm; (25 5-8 x 39 3-8 in), Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis			Haystack at Sunset near Giverny (Meule, Soleil Couchant), 1891, oil on canvas, 73.3 x 92.6 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

[edit] 1888-89 Haystack Paintings

From the 1888 harvest he produced three two stack (1 large and 1 small) canvases (Wildenstein #'s 1213-5) against the backdrop of hills along the left bank of the Seine and a few Giverny houses to the right. Then, he turned to his left to capture two (1216-7) scenes where the hills are shrouded by a line of poplars.