Late Impressionism
Claude Monet
Stacks of Wheat (End of Summer)
1890–91
Oil on canvas, 60 × 100.5 cm. The Art Institute of Chicago
Two large wheat stacks beside Monet's house at Giverny, in the low light of late summer. The series, shown as a group in 1891, brought him praise and strong sales.
- Monet painted the same stacks again and again to record how light shifts with the hour and season. Shown together, the series made that change the subject.
- This was no. 1 of fifteen stack paintings shown at Durand-Ruel's Paris gallery in 1891.
- Monet painted at several easels in the field at once, then refined the color in the studio.
- Look at the cone-shaped tops, which cut through the horizon line.
- The Palmer family of Chicago gave it to the Art Institute in shares from 1985 to 2007.
Wheat stacks stood in the fields around Giverny at harvest. Their simple shape let Monet concentrate on light and weather.
Themes
Image: Art Institute of Chicago Open Access · Public domain