Analysis of Claude Monet's Stacks of Wheat - Term Paper Example

Introduction Claude Monet Claude Monet (1840-5th December 1926) was a French impressionist painting andthe most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement’s philosophy of expressing an individual’s perception before nature (Kalitina, Monet & Brodskai?a?, 2011). He was a key figure in impressionist movement that transformed French painting in the 2nd half of the 19th Century (Kalitina, Monet & Brodskai?a?, 2011). His career was characterized by consistent depiction of the landscape and leisure activities of Paris and its environs as well as the Normandy coast. Monet was on the forefront to lead the way to 20th century modernism through developing one of its kind styles that strove to capture on canvas the very act of perceiving nature. Monet believed that his art was forward-looking and based on a scientific study of nature. This is what he began by believing and never renounced (Kalitina, Monet & Brodskai?a?, 2011). Stacks of Wheat by Claude Monet Claude Monet painted 25 canvases of wheat stacks at Giverny between the late summer of 1890 and the spring of 1891. Monet’s series stacks of wheat represent his first well designed series (LEWIS & LEWIS, 2009). Although the series proffers neither a narrative nor a straightforward allegorical message, it is rich with significance on different levels (Art Institute of Chicago, 2000). Through 1890 and 1891, Monet worked on this series both in the field, painting simultaneously at several easels and in the studio, refining pictorial harmonies (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2008). His breakthrough in painting career was motivated by an unprecedented critical and financial success together with the explicit history of French art (LEWIS & LEWIS, 2009). Monet asserted the cyclical essence of the seasons and of his own creative activity. Notably, he was unbelievably responsive to the nuances of nature (Art Institute of Chicago, 2000). For instance, when the fields and hills were covered in snow, his paintings were characterized by blue, lavender and pink within the icy whiteness, which brings out an incredible scene in the Stacks of Wheat. He however adjusted his palette and focus accordingly with the arrival of thaw (Art Institute of Chicago, 2000). The melting of the snow was a representation of the earth and the features of the background with the sun glowing gently as opposed to glowing angrily. In this series, the stack seems to loom larger than those in Sunset, Snow Effect, but their actual sizes are roughly equal. His main intention was to see the Stacks of the wheat paintings function both independently and as part of the series (Art Institute of Chicago, 2000). The monumental stacks depicted in the paintings arose 15 to 20 feet and stood just outside the artist’s farmhouse at Giverny. The stack-according to Monet-was a resonant symbol of sustenance and survival (Art Institute of Chicago, 2000). The Stack’s association of abundance and of man’s ability to sustain himself and his animals on the richness of the harvest are obvious and compelling. His subsequent series after the 1891 depicted poplars, the farcade of Rouen Cathedral, and later his own garden at Giverny. In Monet’s painting, the sun casts a golden orange over the wheat stack. This shadow was a representation of a contemporary color blue-lavender (Art Institute of Chicago, 2000). Although the mundane subject was dominant throughout the series, the outstanding theme of the series was the transience of light. This concept enabled Monet to use repetition to show nuance of perception as series, weather changes and time of the day (Richard, 1987). The dominant subject provided the foundation from which comparisons could be made in changes of light across this series (Art Institute of Chicago, 2000). Traditionally, it has been thought that the motifs in the Monet's Stacks of Wheat Series paintings were just objects utilized to explore how light, color and form changed during the day and in regard to different weather conditions (Richard, 1987). However, contemporary critical analyses argue that Monet was equally interested in the meaning and importance of the motifs themselves. Stacks of wheat are traditional symbols of rural traditions-in a time when the region was undergoing industrialization and urbanization. They also symbolize the local farmer’s material wealth, land’s fertility and the region’s prosperity (Richard, 1987). The stacks were evocations of nature, a series of works unified by an overall surface and a decorative, thematic harmony (J. Paul Getty Museum, 2008). Monet argued that the Stacks of Wheat Series provided an opportunity to combine a basic doctrine of Impressionism with the modern notions of paintings that aimed at extracting from and reconstruct nature according to the formal and expressive potential of the picture itself. As compared to his early impressionist days, his style and subject matter changed drastically after moving to rural Giverny in 1883 (Art Institute of Chicago, 2000). Working in series enabled Monet to reconcile his determination to deliver instantaneously what he believed in, that is nature. Interestingly, Monet was fascinated with the changing effects of light as opposed to stacks. He writes; "For me," he explained, "a landscape hardly exists at all as a landscape, because its appearance is constantly changing; but it lives by virtue of its surroundings—the air and light—which vary continually”( Art Institute of Chicago, 2000). With this piece of work, Monet redefined once again the genre of landscape painting. Monet’s sensitivity to the change in light was accompanied by an equally acute awareness of the complexities of these short live effects as they appeared in the atmospheric ‘envelope’. This was the source of his dilemma and frustration and as a result, it took him longer to paint shorter and shorter effects of light (Art Institute of Chicago, 2000). Conclusion Having lived in the rural settings for quite some time, enabled Monet to know the importance of the haystack to his neighbors (Richard, 1987). It was important for Monet to make these stacks the motif in his scenes as this would allow their meanings to unfold in a complex succession. As witnessed, it has been impossible for Monet to compress his many simultaneous sensations onto a single canvas (Richard, 1987). As a result, he had to present his work in series so as to convey more clearly and completely the nature of his struggle to master the representation of time. Monet worked without rest in the last days of spring 1891 to bring a collection of 15 independent canvases into collective harmony (Richard, 1987). He was rewarded for his relentless vision and finally he managed to make something unique-a series of separate paintings that were once dependent and independent. Even though these paintings succeeded on some levels as works of art, it was the integration of the pictures that the complexity of Monet’s intentions can be understood (Richard, 1987). References Art Institute of Chicago (2000). Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in The Art Institute of Chicago. Art Institute of Chicago. J. Paul Getty Museum. (2008). The J. Paul Getty Museum handbook of the collections. Los Angeles, Calif: Getty. Kalitina, N. N., Monet, C., & Brodskai?a?, N. V. (2011). Claude Monet. New York: Parkstone Press International. LEWIS, R., & LEWIS, S. I. (2009). The power of art. Boston, MA, Wadsworth. Richard, B. (1987). Post-Impressionists. 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