Claude Monet, 'Grainstack (Sunset: winter)', 1890-1

Between late August or early September 1890 and February 1891, Monet painted a group of twenty-five compositions of grainstacks. Conceived as a decorative ensemble rather than individual pictures, the Stacks of Wheat are the first of his “series” paintings – a practice that would mark a breakthrough in his career.

Monet found this motif in a field near his studio in Giverny. Over the course of the seasons, he depicted this rural landscape repeatedly, experimenting with different viewpoints, compositions and light conditions. Here, a monumental grain stack dominates the left side of the canvas. Set against a hilly backdrop, with a few houses scattered in the distance, it is bathed by the warm light of the setting sun.

Through a stunning array of hot oranges, pinks, purples and light blues, Monet revels in rendering the atmospheric effects surrounding the objects – what he called the enveloppe, “the same light diffused over everything”. “To me, the motif itself is an insignificant factor”, he wrote, “What I want to reproduce is what exists between the motif and me”. Yet, the stacks of wheat bore a specific meaning to late 19th century viewers: a source of income for the farmers, who carefully arranged the wheat in these characteristic conical shapes, they were a key feature of the French countryside, symbolising prosperity and the fertility of the land.

Monet likely begun working on the canvas en plein air on a winter day, then finished it over multiple sessions in his studio. Some pentimenti – changes to the composition – as well as the crusty paint, thickly applied in heavy layers, testify to the artist’s relentless experimentation. At some point, Monet modified the stack’s position, making its top coincide with the line of hills in the background. The geometrical quality of this arrangement, which sets it apart from most pictures of the series, was praised by the critic Camille Mauclair, who saw in it “a surety of execution that is almost mathematical”.

In May 1891, Monet exhibited for the first time fifteen Stacks of Wheat at Durand-Ruel’s in Paris. Prefacing the exhibition catalogue, Gustave Geffroy considered the series a “victorious artistic demonstration” conveying “the sensation of the ephemeral instant that comes into existence and never again returns”. Unanimously acclaimed, the show will mark a pivotal moment in Monet’s career, establishing his fame as one of the most successful artists of the day.