Art Institute of Chicago

Stacks of Wheat

Claude MonetLinkedCulture matchlcp-8e614afd9c71

Date: 1891
Medium: Black chalk on cream laid paper
Culture: France
Department: Prints and Drawings
Institution: Art Institute of Chicago
Object ID: 186316

From the Art Institute of Chicago record

Of all the motifs that preoccupied Monet in his exploration of changing light effects, grain stacks are among the most iconic. He captured them at various times of the year and at different moments of the day. When these works were shown in an 1891 exhibition, they were widely praised by his peers. One critic, Octave Mirbeau, wrote that the works conveyed “the drama of the earth.” Since Monet rarely made drawings, this sheet may have been a potential illustration for Mirbeau’s article. The softness of the chalk avoids harsh contours and, in turn, better mimics the artist’s painting technique.

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Provenance & credit

As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.

Credit line: Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection
Provenance: Private collector, Pennsylvania, to May 1991 [Wildenstein 1991]; sold, Sotheby’s, New York, May 8, 1991, lot 101, to Dorothy Braude Edinburg; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2013.