Grainstack (Sunset: winter) Auction History

Claude Monet painted Grainstack (Sunset: winter) in Giverny in 1890–1891 as part of his celebrated Meules series [1][2]. The Art Institute of Chicago’s scholarly catalogue identifies this canvas as W1282 and locates it in a private collection in Great Britain [2]. It is on long-term loan to the National Gallery, London (inv. L1376), where it is publicly displayed; the Gallery and its 2025 annual review credit an anonymous Private Collection lender [1][3]. Earlier ownership details are not published in the sources cited here.

While no public auction has been documented for this specific painting (W1282), its position within Monet’s Meules series strongly informs its market significance. The Art Institute of Chicago’s scholarly catalogue records W1282 in a private collection in Great Britain, and the National Gallery, London lists it as a long-term loan (inv. L1376), underscoring the work’s stature and the likelihood that it has circulated privately, if at all, in recent decades [1][2][3].

The Meules pictures, painted in 1890–91, are central to Monet’s practice and to Impressionist market history. The National Gallery notes Durand-Ruel’s landmark May 1891 exhibition of fifteen haystacks as pivotal in establishing Monet’s serial method and advancing his market [1]. Although the present canvas is not tied to that checklist in the cited sources, its date, format, and subject align with the prime group that has set the benchmark for Monet’s valuations. Notably, two related Meules achieved record prices: $81.4m at Christie’s in 2016 and $110.7m at Sotheby’s in 2019, the latter setting a new auction record for Monet and for Impressionist art at the time [4][5]. These are comparables for the series, not this exact work.

Scarcity further shapes expectations. The AIC catalogue notes that nine Meules were painted on the standard 65 × 92 cm format used here, and many top examples from 1890–91 reside in major museums, reducing the number of prime-date Meules in private hands [2]. The fact that W1282 is privately owned but publicly placed on long-term loan to a national museum suggests institutional-level quality and stable ownership, limiting near-term market supply while enhancing visibility [1][3]. In short, even without a published sale record for W1282, the series’ canonical status and record-setting comparables frame its potential market significance.