Art

To love a painting is to feel that this presence is… not an object but a voice.

~ Andre Malraux ~

The Gleaners

by

Jean-Francois Millet

“And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.’ Naomi said to her, ‘Go ahead, my daughter.’  So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters.”

~Ruth: 2 2-3 ~

This painting is awash in the colors of autumn, announcing the harvest has been gathered, and it is time to prepare for what is to come; reminding me that winter will soon be upon us. But these stooped over women, trying to pick-up the pieces of grain left behind, by the harvesters, also speak to the endless toil, which life can be, for so many.  The figure, on the right, appears barely able to stand, yet one feels certain that she knows her family is depending on what she gathers, for their survival.

Jean-Francois, who co-founded the Barbizon school of painting, left Parisian life behind during the mid- 19^th Century, precisely to capture these provocative moments – I believe he succeeded beautifully.

Art can never exist without naked beauty displaced.

~ William Blake ~

This entry was posted on October 20, 2014 at 11:23 pm and is filed under Art, SlideShow. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.