This Monet Painting of a Haystack Could Sell for More than $30 Million
On May 15, Sotheby's will auction Claude Monet's Meules à Giverny (1893)—and it is estimated to sell for more than $30 million. The piece leads the auction house's Important American Estate Celebrating 150th Anniversary of Impressionism & Its Influence in America sale that will also include works by the impressionist Camille Pissarro, Childe Hassam, and Pablo Picasso.
The impressionist painting features a maroon haystack amid a lush green field surrounded by trees. It is one of only a handful of works by Monet featuring the haystack to come to auction, and, according to a release, is one of the last times Monet ever used the haystack motif. The painting's first owner was the American Landscape painter and art collection Dwight Blaney, who brought the painting to the United States in 1895. Upon arrival, Blaney immediately lent it to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and has since remained in the same private collection for decades.
Meules à Giverny also represents a transformational time for Monet, as the artist's painted haystacks and lilies became widely recognized during this time. In the midst of 1880s, he wrote to the critic Gustave Geoffrey: "I am working very hard, struggling with a series of different effects (haystacks), but at this season the sun sets so fast I cannot follow it...The more I continue the more I see that a great deal of work is necessary in order to succeed in rendering what I seek."
"As one of his most beloved and important series, the haystacks embody Monet’s meticulous approach to painting. In revisiting scenes at different times of day and seasons, he carefully detailed the subtle changes in the landscape caused by the varying light and atmosphere to create a subtle and harmonious vision across his works, showcasing his continued experimentation with brushwork and looking ahead to his further evolution with the Nymphéas that would usher in an entire new era of modern art," Sharon Kim, Sotheby’s Deputy Chairman, Impressionist and Modern Art, said in a release.
For more information, please visit sothebys.com
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