“Monet’s paintings from this series bear the French title Meules, a word that can be translated as “stacks.” For a long time the title was misinterpreted as Haystacks; however, the objects in Monet’s paintings are actually sheaves of grain. In the agriculture of nineteenth-century Normandy, conical stacks of unthreshed grain were covered with straw or hay to protect the valuable harvest from moisture and rot. Monet, who had a fine sensibility for the structure of the landscape, must have been fascinated by these quasi-sculptural objects of considerable size that appeared at the same time every year in the fields surrounding his house, covering the meadows in a kind of temporary installation. The motif also had symbolic character for the predominantly agricultural community of Giverny, and at the same time allowed Monet, by means of his serial approach, to explore the cyclical transformation of nature in the changing of the seasons—and with it the very passage of time.
This work has a special place among the twenty-five versions of grainstacks that Monet painted within the space of only a few months in 1890 and 1891. The strong visual diagonal introduces a dynamic element into the composition, which the artist strengthened by means of unusually intense colors and a backlit effect. More than any other version of the motif, the composition shows the influence of the colored Japanese woodcuts that Monet, like many of his fellow artists, so enthusiastically collected.”
Museum Barberini
See More
Claude Monet at Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
List of Paintings by Claude Monet at wikiwand
Works by Claude Monet at Museum Barberini
Claude Monet at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Claude Monet at National Gallery of Art
Claude Monet at Art Institute of Chicago
Claude Monet at Philidelphia Museum of Art
Claude Monet at Kunsthaus Zurich
Claude Monet at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Tag: Claude Monet At Sunnyside
Read More
Christie’s: One of the last of Monet’s momentous Grainstack series in private hands
Thanks for Visiting 🙂
~Sunnyside
At Sunnyside - Where Truth and Beauty Meet 
Such richness to this painting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like to enlarge the image and enjoy all the tiny jewels left by each stroke of the brush. 😎
LikeLiked by 2 people
There is always so much to appreciate!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful painting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts, Mitzy. 🙂
LikeLike
Stunning artwork, Sunny 💗
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am so pleased you enjoy this, too, Anita! 😎❤️🙏
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pleasure my dear friend 🧡🌹
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on penwithlit and commented:
Wonderful paintings!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am reading Ian Roberts book on mastering composition. The first exercise is to figure out the armature of some famous paintings. Here we have that strong diagonal but a fulcrum effect of the three puffy trees on the right against the massive foreground haystack on the left. Imagine the painting without those little wispy round three shapes and see how much engaging it would have been.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fascinating! I really enjoy watching his free videos on youtube – great teacher. Thanks for sharing your experience, sienablue. 🙂
LikeLike
The light effects in this painting are superb.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is what mesmerizes me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Vivienne. 😎
LikeLike