The theme of haystack was thought of as early as 1888. This kind of scenery only exists in autumn. So he painted from autumn to early spring of the following year, constantly observing the changes of its light. I drew 24 pictures before and after. There is a single picture and a group of pictures. The angle is also different, showing the image of the haystack under different hours and different light changes. The picture seems monotonous, but in the face of several piles of hay, the painter has a deep sense of color. At first, he thought it was enough to draw this pile of hay with two canvases, one for cloudy days and the other for sunny days. However, due to the changing light on the haystack, he had to go home again and again to get a new canvas. The reason why he is so interested in the change of light on this object, in his own words, is to record "the true impression of a particular natural scenery, rather than going out to draw a general landscape painting." From Monet's painting Haystack, we can see that all the sources of the impressionist painter's painting inspiration, that is, the change of light color inspired his artistic enthusiasm. He once wrote to a friend: "The sun goes down too fast, so I can't catch it."
Monet is not only one of the pioneers of Impressionism, but also his painting skills and thinking about color and light have become the foothold of Impressionism. Paul Cezanne, a contemporary master, once praised Monet who was blind in one eye at that time: "Although it is only one eye, my God, what an eye it is!"