Why Did the Elite Fear the Gleaners? 

It's always struck me as interesting/bizarre how realist art ended up becoming more or less the 'conservative' school of art when it's roots tend to be in representing more hard-edge social awareness.

I love that the critic recognizes the problems of his society and how the painting reflects that, but doesn’t seek to improve those issues but rather saying the painting shouldn’t bring those issues up at all.

I always get shocked while seeing some reviews of paintings. I thought this painting is about the beauty and simplicity of rural life but then i learned that it is about the social problems of its time .

The strength of the bourgeoisie lies in the people's ignorance of their own strength. Thank you for showing this paiting and the story behind it, much love from brazil !! 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

Come for the artistic astuteness, stay for the class consciousness.

I was taught the history of this painting in history class. My history teacher loved art and did a whole chapter on historic political art... Remembered it when I saw it.

Wow, I'm pissed that I did not know the political subtext of this painting until now! As you say, I had just assumed it was a simplistic scene of rural nostalgia. Thanks for educating me - I like this painting a whole lot more now!

Thank you for this intelligent in-depth analysis of Millet's wonderful subversive painting! Van Gogh admired it greatly and did his own interpretation of 'peasants' working the soil.

Never forget the power of our solidarity to gain a better life.

i HIGHLY recommend the movie "The gleaners and I" by Agnès Varda to anyone interested in this whole concept! that film changed my whole perspective on our idea of leftovers and residue and so on.

Interestingly, one of Karl Marx's early articles (pre-Das Kapital) was about how the lowers classes used to collect (glean) wood for heating on aristocratic lands but were prevented from doing so when the bourgeoisie took control of these very same woodlands. It was illegal in both period, but only the bourgeois actually did repress it, at the expense of the collective. Gleaning has always been a highly socialist theme and concern is what I'm trying to say...

Que análise maravilhosa! Paz entre nós, guerra aos senhores

The horizon line analysis of the figures containment and subjugation downwards speaks on such a gut level upon first viewing this work. I love seeing how composition can express such depth.

Such a revelation to me! So interesting and yet sad that these issues in society and class are still present. Thank you for your excellent analysis. I will be looking at Millet's paintings in a very different way now.

I loved this painting since the first day I saw it in high school in my art history class this was 2005 lol! It wasn't talked about too much but it was this painting that made me love art and art history because I didn't know we could say something so powerful. I just remember sitting there and feeling like moved and angry and sad everything all at once! Perfect! I love love your video essays sooo much! Thank you!

I just got this painting today in Animal Crossing. Glad I got to know more about it!

Thank you. I never even thought of this painting before, now-it's in my favourites. It's painful, yet just a step away burns the anger of revolutionary flame. It is blessed.

I am now in my last days of my holiday and I have found your videos at the start… and I have been addicted to your beautiful videos in these weeks. They all are so perfectly put together and genuinely make you think about the subject at hand for sometimes days after watching the video. 🙏🏻 thank you

The painting is iconic - but Agnes Varda's documentary 'The Gleaners and I' is far more impactful in my opinion. A way better look at class division in modern day France, all in relation to the painting.

Your videos are fantastic. I am an illustrator, but i rarely explore the history of art beyond analyzing the works of the masters that i love and would like to learn from. Its a sort of a cannibalistic relationship i guess, not that i dont look for the messages in them but i do tend to spend more time in the technicalities and reverse engineerings, and loop the process of creation, than in "reading" pieces of art trought history. Your channel is teaching me that and i am so grateful. It certanly its giving me a new beginning and new eyes to see art, thats a journey im very excited for. Thank you so much :)

There are a good handful of danish paintings, made in the genre of "social realism". A couple of excellent ones would be "Sat Ud (Put Out)" by Erik Henningsen, "Summum Jus Summa Injuria/ The Child Murder" by the same artist, and "Udslidt (Worn Out)" by H.A. Brendekilde. In the late 18th century, the genre was very popular in Denmark, and the themes and values that they expressed remained in the public spirit since.

Great video as always! I knew the painting itself before watching this video, because when I was a junior high school student, it appeared in my art class textbook. But I didn't even realize that there are more people other than peasants. This channel is really helpful to understand art.

The content of your remarks is very interesting. A print of this painting was on the front wall of my classroom when I was in the eighth grade of parochial school. My teachers were nuns of the Franciscan Order. They took a vow of poverty. I wonder what thought went into their thinking to hang this in my classroom. I have no recollection of any comments being made about the art work by the nuns or the students.

This was a joy to watch. You do an exceptional job at informing both the audience and myself of the true meaning on this painting. Before this video, I was not aware that this painting existed or what it meant both today and at the time of its creation.

All I want to do is curl up in a blanket on a rainy day with a cup of tea, and listen to you speak, and especially listen to your pronunciation of French words. This video moved me to tears, by the way. Thank you .

I just wanted to say that I find your videos professional, interesting, entertaining and amazing. Keep up the great work! Cheers.

What a lovely interpretation. The 2/3 of the frame ceiling blew me away. Genius!

This shows how aesthetics can be so important.

I am enjoying watching your subs go up day by day 😀 fantastic! You definitely deserve it!

Very interesting analysis. I had never ever even considered this possibility of this famous painting. Thank you for taking the time to bring some awesome social awareness to us all.

could you make a Video about Zdisław Beksiński or Louis Wain? ps: Love your videos man!

In art school, we glanced over this painting and never really covered the real meaning. Thanks for sharing the truth of this painting.

One individual I would honestly love to see you cover is the work and evolution in style of Piet Mondrian, by far my favorite artist.

I have only recently discovered your channel and I love it! And you have a great voice to go with it 👍. Love from France

I’m new to your channel and so far I’m in love with it.

Amazing video!

This is beautiful. Thank you! Subscribed 😁

When looking at the picture, I always had a feeling that something about it was not right. That this was either staged, or should not be like this. The gleaning of the remaining crop is not only an old tradition, it is even an important part of a biblical story, namely the Book of Ruth, where it is also a depiction of class disparity, the social status of women (especially when widowed), and a parable about selfishness and generosity. The painting was created in a time when the industrialisation was already under way, and many people left exactly this land life and headed for the cities, hoping to find work and live a better life, only to find themselves in the same predicament, working fourteen hours per day for a wage that was way too low to make a living. Idyllic rural landscapes were the expression of an unrealistic nostalgia for a bucolic life that never existed. This kind of pictures was usually bought by a wealthy clientele, members of the bourgeoisie, and totally unaccessible to poor people. Millet used this genre, to turn it around, and show the company owners and shareholders, how rural life *really* is. No wonder that the critic of the Figaro was scared of this painting. A picture of which the subjects didn't even know, that it existed... By the way, Millet also created another picture, The Angelus. When you start asking which scene is depicted in this painting, things become unsettling. Salvador Dali claimed that the couple wasn't praying for a good harvest, but for their deceased child which was hidden beneath a layer of oil paint...

When l first saw this painting as a 15 year old, l was struck by how udnlovely it was. The three women who do backbreaking work in the foreground clearly were scratching out a meagre living. The painter made them and their lives the focus of this work. I could relate to how hard my parents worked to provide a life for us all. Yet, there was an uncomfortable message here. I felt these these poor women were poor and would never be able to share in the wealth of the land. Being of French peasant background myself l could only hope for some way to end this unjust way of living. It did come but it was not always peaceful. Indeed, the powerful would not give up their power without a fight.

Oh damn, I am French and after your video I want to do a revolution again

That was good, thanks for the video! It really made me think.

This is my favorite channel on RU-vid.

I love your channel man, it’s the best on RU-vid for me as an amateur artist

Magnifique explication! Je ne connaissais pas cette oeuvre auparavant cependant, la découverte et l'explication m'on donner l'envie d'aller faire des recherches sur les oeuvre de la IIe République. Super contenu comme toujours!

Great video as usual

I often saw this painting without knowing the background and thought of it as a charming country scene. But a few months into the lockdown of 2020, I read a very simple description of it from, strange as it was, Animal Crossing: New Horizons: "Notice the abundant crops visible in the background relative to the meager wheat remaining for workers. This art served as a social commentary in a time of great inequality." At that moment my view of it changed forever. This is no longer a 'charming country scene' to me, but a pointed political reminder, rendered in disarmingly cheerful oil painting, to the viewer that this has been, and still is, going on around them, albeit in different takes and forms.

3.36.24 History repeats Very wise - thank you for sharing

Terrific interpretation of the "The Gleaners." Fear of uprising! Interesting how the few command "the many" but "the many" allow it. The man on the horse could well be an overseer and not the owner; nonetheless, this is s fantastic painting as a painting: the muted colors, arch of the shapes, horizon line, the implicaiton of the man on the horse, the prominence of the foreground figures.... remarkably informative painting of a mood or the mood at the time. And we can see this in the world now with truckers/farmers en mass protesting against the few/the oligarchs.

Best painting channel, keep going

This was so thorough and interesting. I have never given this painting more than a passing glance before and had no idea of the radical themes behind it. All power to the gleaners! There was an article in The Guardian newspaper not too long ago about modern gleaning in the UK. Apparently because of a lack of cheap labour post Brexit, crops are left unharvested, so groups of volunteers have taken to gathering these crops and donating them to food banks. 200 years after this painting and people still go hungry in rich nations.

comrade the canvas

Great video

Very interesting. Just subscribed.

You're my favorite youtuber right now

My grandparents had a copy of this painting. They raised four kids during the Great Depression, so yeah. I have the painting on my wall now.

I wish I've known your channel earlier, I sincerely comprehend your thorough outtake on art, bit surprised when it came to Dali, although one should expect anything from one of the most controversial and bizarre characters that ever lived.

I really admire you.

recently watched the film "The Gleaners and I" or "Les glaneurs et la glaneuse" by Agnes Varda. highly recommend it for anyone interested in this more, and want to see a moving piece on this.

Love how a seemingly simple painting tells an important story

I would love to see you do a video on the piece "the lantern bearers" by Maxfeild Parrish. I first saw it at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. And since then it has become my all time favorite painting. I rarely hear anyone speak about it, and i would love to hear what you think/how you'd analyze it!!!

I also read somewhere that the red, blue and white colours could be intentional to subtly represent the tricolour!

Fantastic

Are there books that analyze art in a similar way to this channel? This is super interesting stuff and I want to learn more

Great video as always! Song name?

Could you maybe share some of your sources? This video touches on what I'm currently writing about and I would love to read what you consulted!

Oh one more thing , when the Sorbone opened, most of rural england ate out of a bole carved in the middle of the table and they did so with their hands (did not have forks yet in them parts) and i could go on.

ballin

With the situation of the world nowadays, this painting pretty much embodies it.

A video on Socialist Realism art please 🙌 Also, I loved the video. Keep up the good work sir!

What’s the background music? It sounds amazing

I recommend checking out Filipino artists, they're just so underrated...

In the Torah, there is a commandment not to oppress the widows and orphans, and to not reap the corners of your fields so that they can clean with more dignity. This painting is a commentary on greed vs. Judeo/Christian values.

Do you think you could do a video on John William Waterhouse? He’s one of my favorite artists.

Thanks

Depressing that this kind of exploitation has only gotten exponentially worse over the 200 years since this painting was made. And now the bourgeoisie is no longer afraid, because it's apparent that the exploited class is never ever going to rebel, no matter how badly they're treated :/

In Tom Wolf's "The Painted Word," he started his grousing with The Gleaners... =P

Please make a video on "wings of desire"

Those who enjoy a high position are so easily rattled. Having so far to fall makes them very insecure.

Does anyone know the music being used in the background?

What is the background music?

I miss when critics would actually be analytical about things, even if they don't like them. Now they just use populist buzz words. If the critic was a modern one he would have simply called the painting "woke b/s"

art and things that the elites fear. my two favourite things

Wow.

I disaggree with a subtle idea or one of the questions/statements in this picture: the right answer to problems of poor is denying the rights of the rich class and that it would lead to improvement of their condition. Creation of new jobs improved the life of whole population in Western societies eventually, and that was one of the answers to this problem, so it seems historically. To send a rich person to jail for injustice in society seems a bit too simplified. There are people who are unable to work due to special conditions, for example, or lack of IQ or work abilities. So, it may sounds cruel, but I think that's the thruth. Without a doubt this picture shows an example of injustice or maybe a lack of care for poor, or maybe exposed some of the propaganda in the time, but the solution cannot and may not be simplified because it isn't. And I don't think it gives universal answer to problems of poor people in countries over the world, because situation and politics differ greatly historically.

Giọng hát của ah Đức phúc hát đúng tâm trạng hay quá

Hi, i really need help with my essay, are there any modern artworks which reveal power balances in today's societies, ty

This painting is a reminder of the biblical commandment to allow the poor to glean, and a rebuke to those who have enough to share but don't want to do so. Of course it upsets people who have a guilty conscience, but it doesn't mean that the poor have power!

I bet you will enjoy Tony Viramontes' works

Do paintings and art still affect the world today as much as it did before?

I suspect an American or an Englishman would not have that reaction, but any continental European would.

I’ve been watching several of your commentaries and interpretations of various artists and their works. I’m amazed that while I was hoping to understand the techniques used by the artist, I was enlightened not only by your obvious interest in politics through art, but enlightened on how much a commentator can impose his own political leanings through his interpretations to the viewers. I’m getting more information that relates to how you appear to be anti capitalism, anti-American, and anarchy is obviously better for a more enlightened world. I’m sure many are hanging on to your every word, not suspecting your personal political opinions are what concerns you more than the artwork you review. Sorry if this offends you. It’s all interesting but alas, not my cup of tea.

damn

Ummm, that's wheat, not corn ...

My moms favorite painting

I would love to sit down and get to know you, I feel like we would be good friends.

not corn.. looks like wheat or barley...oats .. some seed grain.

I enjoy your analysis - however, I wish you’d turn down the social commentary.

How have you broken through the algorithms and gained an audience? That isn't usually allowed for channels that critique class structure.

We learnt about this in art class, I'm 1 step ahead.

Why do u look like the Alec Baldwin Lion from Madagascar Escape 2 Africa 😭