Haystacks

Claude Monet, a leader of the Impressionist movement, created a series of paintings of haystacks (also called grainstacks) between 1890 and 1891. He painted these subjects multiple times to capture the changing effects of light and atmosphere at different times of day and in various weather conditions.12

Monet's goal was to capture "instantaneity"—the fleeting envelope of light that unifies a scene for a moment before changing. His Haystack in the Morning, Snow Effect depicts a haystack in the cool light of a late winter afternoon, with a blue landscape and a long shadow cast by the low sun. In contrast, Haystack at Sunset, Frosty Weather shows the haystack as a silhouette against a glowing sunset. When exhibited together, these paintings were a critical success, celebrated for their unique rendering of light and their French rural subject matter.12