Monet’s famous haystack painting fetches record price in intense 8-minute auction

After an intense eight-minute bidding war at Sotheby’s on Wednesday evening, Claude Monet’s iconic “Meules à Giverny,” which is also “Grainstacks” or simply “Haystacks,” sold for a staggering $34.8 million.

#AuctionUpdate: An iconic haystack painting, Claude Monet’s ‘Meules à Giverny’ achieves an astounding $34.8M after an almost 8-minute bidding battle. #SothebysModern pic.twitter.com/ikZeh7MVuX

— Sotheby’s (@Sothebys) May 15, 2024

The late French impressionist artist’s Haystack painting is one of the late artist’s most recognizable works.

It was painted in 1893, and has now found itself being sold in 2024.

According to artnet, the painting quickly reached $28.5 million which resulted in a fast and furious bidding war in New York to proceed for almost eight minutes, only to increase the price by $1.5 million.

Jen Hua, the Sotheby’s deputy chairman wound up succeeding with the winning bid.

Monet had previously created a series of Haystack paintings between 1890 and 1891 and the series is highly recognized for  its groundbreaking approach to light and color.

Specifically, the Haystacks series consists of about 25 paintings.

The haystacks themselves were located near Monet’s home in Giverny, a small village in Normandy.

He was fascinated by how the changing light and seasons affected the appearance of the haystacks which drew him to want to capture these variations.

In doing so, he created multiple versions of the same subject under different conditions of light, weather, and the time of day.

Despite the steep price tag for this haystack painting, another one of Monet’s iconic paintings of haystacks fetched a record $110.7 million at Sotheby’s in May 2019, setting a world auction record for the artist and becoming the first Impressionist work to cross the $100 million threshold, according to the Associated Press.

Monet’s “Meules” (1890) sold at the New York auction house and was just one of only four from the “Haystacks” series to come to auction in this this century.

Despite the significant sale from Wednesday’s auction, the Agence Free Presse reported that British-Mexican artist Leonora Carrington — who died in 2011 — stole the show when she broke her own auction record.

Carrington’s “Les Distractions de Dagobert” reportedly sold for $28.5 million placing her among the top five most valuable female artists at auction, according to Sotheby’s, and among the top four surrealist artists, “overtaking Max Ernst and Salvador Dali.”

#AuctionUpdate: At public auction for the first time in three decades, Leonora Carrington’s defining masterpiece ‘Les Distractions de Dagobert’ soars to a new record for the artist, fetching $28.5M. #SothebysModern pic.twitter.com/W4e6cAwnaR

— Sotheby’s (@Sothebys) May 16, 2024

The artwork, which was executed in 1945, is on par with Carrington’s fantastical and dreamlike imagery, often drawing from mythology, alchemy, and her own vivid imagination.

The painting’s title references King Dagobert I, a 7th-century Frankish king known for his indulgent lifestyle​.

According to Sotheby’s, the painting also encapsulates a tapestry of detailed vignettes, each representing elements like Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.

This work also draws from a wide array of influences, including Irish mythology, alchemy, Kabbalah, and indigenous Mexican cosmology.