Last updated: 17 Dec 2024
Inspired by Gleaners from Millet
Undated
Brush and paper
Watercolour
Landscape
Impressionism
Original Painting by Jean-Francois Millet in 1857. True to one of Millet's favourite subjects – peasant life – this painting is the culmination of ten years of research on the theme of the gleaners. These women incarnate the rural working-class. They were authorised to go quickly through the fields at sunset to pick up, one by one, the ears of corn missed by the harvesters.The painter shows three of them in the foreground, bent double, their eyes raking the ground. He thus juxtaposes the three phases of the back-breaking repetitive movement imposed by this thankless task: bending over, picking up the ears of corn and straightening up again.Their austerity contrasts with the abundant harvest in the distance: haystacks, sheaves of wheat, a cart and a busy crowd of harvesters. The festive, brightly lit bustle is further distanced by the abrupt change of scale. The slanting light of the setting sun accentuates the volumes in the foreground and gives the gleaners a sculptural look.
1. Medium: Watercolor on paper
2. Shapes and objects: Three figures bent over in a field, likely farm workers or gleaners. They appear to be harvesting or gathering crops. In the background, there's a horse-drawn cart, some distant buildings or haystacks, and a hint of mountains or hills on the horizon. The sky is dramatic with various shades suggesting an overcast or stormy day.
3. Colours: Earth tones dominate the painting. The field is painted in shades of brown and ochre. The sky uses greens, yellows, and greys to create a moody atmosphere. The figures are painted in darker tones of blue, grey, and brown, with touches of white and pink for skin tones.
4. Narrative: This painting captures the hard labor of rural life, focusing on the backbreaking work of harvesting or gleaning. The bent postures of the figures convey the physical toll of their work, while also suggesting a connection to the earth. The dramatic sky adds a sense of urgency to their task, as if they're racing against approaching bad weather. Despite the hardship depicted, there's also a sense of dignity in their labor. The painting evokes themes of rural life, the cycles of nature, and human perseverance in the face of challenging conditions.
5. Original Artist: This painting is strongly reminiscent of Jean-François Millet's "The Gleaners" (1857). Millet was a French painter and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. He was known for his scenes of peasant farmers and their work, often imbuing them with a sense of dignity and monumentality.
"The Gleaners" is one of Millet's most famous works, depicting three peasant women gleaning a field of stray stalks of wheat after the harvest. While Mehrdad Fahimi's painting has its own unique elements, particularly in the use of color and the inclusion of the cart in the background, the core composition and theme are very similar to Millet's work.
Millet's "The Gleaners" is housed in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. It's considered a masterpiece of 19th-century French painting and had a significant impact on later artists, including Vincent van Gogh. Fahimi's painting continues this tradition of depicting rural labor, adapting the theme to his own style and medium.
Details
Type
artwork
Created At
12 May 2023