The Gleaners Flashcards
Subject matter
A celebration of rural working life in France. Gleaning was form of charity which permitted the act of collecting leftover crops from the harvest.
‘Soft’ composition contrasts with ‘harsh’subject
The slanting light of the setting sun accentuates the volumes in the foreground and gives the gleaners a sculptural look. Millet uses atmospheric perspective to smudge the distance into a powdery golden haze, accentuating the bucolic (rustic) impression of the scene in the background.
Influence of Realism
The Realist movement reflected the growing interest in Socialist ideas which celebrated the power of the working classes. Artists like Millet attempted to democratise art by bringing scenes of labour and poverty to elitist institutions like the Salon. Rejected the classical subjects of Neoclassicism and the exotic subjects of Romanticism.
The Gleaners
Millet juxtaposes the three phases of the back-breaking movement in each of the three figures – a young girl (handkerchief around her neck to protect her from the sun suggests girlish vanity), the middle aged woman (solid and strong) and the elderly lady (hunched back and swollen hands).
Sense of dignity
Despite their menial job their forms are monumental
(showing debt to the sculptures of Michelangelo) and their clothes are clean. They remain fixed on their task and do not engage with the viewer – removing any sense of pity.
The harvest
The abundant harvest in the background contrasts with the austerity of the gleaners.
The overseer on horseback:
A reminder of the social structures in place – he completely ignores the Gleaners – emphasising their lowliness.
The power of the working class
Millet’s glorification of the lower class worker was met with distrust by some critics – one who described it as an “alarming imitation of the scaffolds of 1793”.
Marx’s Communist Manifesto (1848)
Millet’s painting is a celebration of the Marxist ideals of truebeauty and value in labour, demonstrating the Socialist idea that French society was built upon the labour of the working classes.
The Third French Revolution (1848)
Had recently bought about the collapse of the July monarchy (Louis Philipe) and the foundation of the Second French Republic –the democratising spirit of the day is reflected in Millet’s treatment of the rural poor.
Negative reception at theParis Salon
Millet’s painting immediatley drew criticism from the middle and upper classes who mistrusted Millet’s glorification of the working class when it was first exhibited at the Paris Salon (the state sponsored exhibition).
Rejection of History painting
Millet depicted his peasants in the same manner that History paintings reserved for mythological and biblical subjects, reacting to the official tastes of academic art.
Academic techniques
Millet’s use of academic and linear perspective as well as foreshortening (the poses of the women) imbue his subject with dignity and beauty.
Language of History painting
Large scale and academic techniques appropriates the language of History painting (previously reserved for biblical and mythological subjects) to glorifythe rural working class.
Political identity
During this time of political and social unrest in France, many saw Millet as a social critic with a leftist viewpoint, he however insisted his interests bore no relation to the politics of the time.
