Grainstack, Sun in the Mist

Claude Monet

1891

Oil on canvas

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A haystack is depicted in a field under a hazy, sunlit sky. The scene is rendered with visible brushstrokes, creating a soft, atmospheric effect. A haystack is depicted in a field under a hazy, sunlit sky. The scene is rendered with visible brushstrokes, creating a soft, atmospheric effect. In the late 1880s, Claude Monet analyzed visual perception by representing the same subject under varying conditions of light, atmosphere, and weather. In one such series, he depicted the grainstacks near his house in Giverny. These large, conical structures of wheat, 15 to 20 feet high, protected the grain from rain and rodents. Typical of farming practice in France, the stacks came to symbolize the country's rural prosperity. Monet studied the grainstacks during different seasons as the