The Gleaners

The Gleaners by Jean François Millet French, 1814-1875, is a significant print created between 1855 and 1856. While Millet is best known for his large-scale oil paintings, this detailed etching on paper demonstrates his deep commitment to representing the rural working class of 19th-century France. This particular composition is nearly identical to the artist’s iconic 1857 oil painting, now housed in the Musée d'Orsay, offering viewers a more intimate, immediate encounter with the scene through the graphic medium of printmaking.

The image focuses intently on three peasant women performing the arduous task of gleaning-collecting stray grains left behind after the official harvest. Millet captures the reality of poverty and subsistence farming, a central theme in his mature work and a hallmark of the burgeoning Realist movement. Unlike many contemporary artists who idealized pastoral life, 1814-1875 rendered his subjects with quiet dignity and monumental simplicity, contrasting the burden of their labor against the distant, hazy backdrop of the prosperous harvest.

The technique of etching utilizes detailed cross-hatching and deep lines, which enhance the weighty, grounded texture of the women's clothing and the earth they occupy. This process transforms the broad strokes of the original painting into a condensed, powerful graphic image. Millet's profound dedication to social realism often generated controversy among the Parisian bourgeoisie but solidified his legacy as a leading figure of the Barbizon School. This print, a crucial document of mid-19th century French art, is preserved in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.