Jean-François Millet's painting The Gleaners was received with hostility at the Salon in 1857, as it depicted the harsh reality of the poor, which was unsettling to the bourgeois. While the initial reward for Millet's work was not worth the effort in terms of contemporary acclaim, the painting has since been recognized as a significant piece of nineteenth-century French art.
The question refers to the French painter Jean-François Millet and his painting The Gleaners. When Millet presented this work at the Salon in 1857, the audience's reaction was not just unenthusiastic but also hostile. The reason for this was that the painting depicted poor women and children gleaning, a vision that was unsettling to the bourgeois audience amidst the rising popularity of revolutionary ideas from thinkers like Marx.
The painting shows an eternal theme tied to Old Testament stories, reflecting the right of the poor to glean remaining grain from fields after the harvest. This theme was an implicit criticism of the social order of the time, which was likely why the public found it disconcerting.
The hostility and lack of enthusiasm that Millet's The Gleaners initially received suggests that the reward for Millet's effort in terms of immediate recognition and acclaim was not worth it. However, Millet's painting is now regarded as an important work in nineteenth-century French art and symbolically represents the struggle and dignity of the working class. The reward Millet received came posthumously, as the work has gained significant respect and value over time. Therefore, the painting's worth is much more appreciated in retrospect than it was by Millet's contemporaries.
The question probable may be:
How did the bourgeois audience react to Jean-François Millet's painting "The Gleaners" when it was presented at the Salon in 1857, and what factors contributed to the hostility it received? Additionally, how has the perception of the painting evolved over time, and what does its posthumous recognition reveal about the changing attitudes towards social realism and depictions of the working class in art?