# Stacks of Wheat

- By: Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926)
- Date: 1891
- Medium: Black chalk on cream laid paper
- Classification: Drawing and Watercolor
- Dimensions: Primary/secondary supports: 18.2 × 25.4 cm (7 3/16 × 10 in.)
- Culture: France
- Credit line: Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/186316)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/b7c3fa7f-d2bd-27b6-4a5c-0c8943d2b944/full/843,/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

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.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0