Critical Analysis of Jean-François Millet's Work 'Women Collecting Springs' According to the Holistic Approach to Art Criticism

Abstract

This study presents a critical analysis of Jean François Millet's work "Women Who Collect Virgos" within the framework of the Holistic Approach of Art Criticism. The research was carried out by using descriptive analysis and logical reasoning techniques from qualitative research methods. In addition to the visual elements such as the composition of the work in question, the use of color, and the posture of the figures, its social messages and themes were examined. The research findings have shown that the realist style depicts the daily life of the working class in an original way in the work entitled "Women Who Collect Virgo" and emphasizes the artist's respect for the working classes with social equality. In addition, it has been seen that this work strongly reveals the aesthetic interest of the Barbizon school in nature and agricultural labor. The results showed that art is not only a representation of the noble classes, adhering to the findings, but also relates the daily struggles of the working classes to aesthetic and social values, showing that the figures are depicted realistically in the natural environment. In this context, it has been seen that the work has an important position in the history of art both in terms of its emphasis on social equality and the aesthetic sensitivity of the Barbizon school towards nature and agricultural production.

Keywords

• Jean François Millet
• Virgo Collecting Women
• Realism
• Barbizon school
• Social class

Sanat Eleştirisi Bütüncül Yaklaşım İzleğine Göre Jean-François Millet'in 'Başak Toplayan Kadınlar' Eserinin Eleştirel Çözümlemesi

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Jean François Millet'in "Başak Toplayan Kadınlar" adlı eserinin Sanat Eleştirisi Bütüncül Yaklaşım İzleği çerçevesinde eleştirel çözümlemesini sunmaktadır. Araştırma, nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden betimsel analiz ve mantıksal akıl yürütme teknikleri kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Söz konusu eserin kompozisyonu, renk kullanımı, ve figürlerin duruşu gibi görsel unsurların yanı sıra, toplumsal mesajları ve temaları incelenmiştir. Araştırma bulguları, "Başak Toplayan Kadınlar" adlı eserde realist üslubun emekçi sınıfın günlük yaşamını özgün bir biçimde tasvir ettiğini ve sanatçının toplumsal eşitlik ile emekçi sınıflara olan saygısını vurguladığını göstermiştir. Ayrıca, bu eser, Barbizon ekolünün doğa ve tarımsal emeğe duyduğu estetik ilgiyi güçlü bir şekilde ortaya koyduğu görülmüştür. Sonuçlar, ise bulgulara bağlı kalarak sanatın yalnızca soylu sınıfların temsilinden ibaret olmadığını, aynı zamanda emekçi sınıfların günlük mücadelelerini estetik ve toplumsal değerlerle ilişkilendirdiğini ortaya koyarak, figürlerin doğal çevre içerisinde gerçekçi bir şekilde betimlendiğini göstermiştir. Bu bağlamda eser, hem toplumsal eşitlik vurgusu hem de Barbizon ekolünün doğa ve tarımsal üretime yönelik estetik duyarlılığı açısından sanat tarihi içinde önemli bir konuma sahip olduğu görülmüştür.

Keywords

• Jean François Millet
• Başak Toplayan Kadınlar
• Realizm
• Barbizon ekolü
• Toplumsal sınıf

References

1. Amley, H. M. (2005). The Evolution of Criticism on Jean-Francois Millet.
2. Barkey, K., & Gavrilis, G. (2018). The Ottoman millet system: Non-territorial autonomy and its contemporary legacy. In Non-Territorial Autonomy in Divided Societies (pp. 24-42). Routledge.
3. Boulard, S. (2023). Agnès Varda's The Gleaners and I: From Waste to Wonder—A Cinematic Odyssey on Food Loss and Gleaning. In A Global Humanities Approach to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (pp. 106-126). Routledge.
4. Bulut, Ş. (2023). The Concept of Metaverse or Virtual Reality and The Artist: Refik Anadol's Works. Faculty of Letters Journal of Social Sciences/Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 47(1).
5. Bingöl, O. (2017). Alternatif Tasarlamalar Bağlamında Fotoğraf. İletişim Çalışmaları Dergisi, 3(1), 1-16.
6. Coughlin, M. A. (2001). The Artistic Origins of the French Peasant-painter, Jean-François Millet: Between Normandy and Barbizon. New York University.
7. Fried, M. (1992). Courbet's realism. University of Chicago Press.
8. Friedrich, M. (2008). Millet's The Gleaners: Rural Laborers Taken for Granted.

9. Fratello, B. (2003). France embraces Millet: the intertwined fates of The Gleaners and The Angelus. The Art Bulletin, 85(4), 685-701.
10. Fratello, B. P. (2001). Making a tradition of modern art: The case of Jean-François Millet. Washington University in St. Louis.
11. Herbert, R. L. (2002). From Millet to Léger: essays in social art history. Yale University Press.
12. İçduygu, A., & Millet, E. (2016). Syrian refugees in Turkey: Insecure lives in and environment of pseudo-integration. Istituto affari internazionali.
13. Joelle, N. (2013). On Georges Seurat’s The Gleaner. Dandelion: Postgraduate Arts Journal and Research Network, 4(1).
14. Juneja, M. (1988). The peasant image and agrarian change: Representations of rural society in nineteenth‐century French painting from millet to van Gogh. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 15(4), 445-474.
15. Laughton, B. (1979). Jean-Francois Millet.
16. Limle, J. H. (1998). Holistic approaches in a secondary discipline-based art education curriculum.
17. Meixner, L. L., & Herban III, M. (1983). Popular Criticism of Jean-François Millet in Nineteenth-Century America. The Art Bulletin, 65(1), 94-105.
18. Millett, K. (2016). Sexual politics. Columbia University Press.
19. Millett-Gallant, A. (2010). The disabled body in contemporary art. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
20. Miller, C. (1990). Millet and the French peasant: the artist as social historian (Doctoral dissertation, University of St Andrews).
21. Mollett, J. W. (1890). The Painters of Barbizon: Millet, Rousseau, Diaz, Corot, Daubigny, Dupré (Vol. 1). S. Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington.
22. Neroni, H. (2010). Documenting the Gaze: Psychoanalysis and Judith Helfand's Blue Vinyl and Agnes Varda's The Gleaners and I. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 27(3), 178-192.
23. Panse, S. (2015). The work of the documentary protagonist: the material labor of aesthetics. A companion to contemporary documentary film, 155-175.
24. Roux, D., & Guillard, V. (2016). Circulation of objects between strangers in public space: An analysis of forms of sociality among disposers and gleaners. Recherche et Applications en Marketing (English Edition), 31(4), 28-46.
25. Sensier, A. (1881). Jean-François Millet, peasant and painter (No. 361). Macmillan.
26. Simpson, M. (1990). Windows on the Past: Edwin Austin Abbey and Francis Davis Millet in England. American Art Journal, 22(3), 65-89.
27. Stewart, S. (2004). Removing Rural Roots: Spatiality and the Rural Labourer in William Wordsworth’s “Resolution and Independence” and Jean-François Millet’s The Gleaners. Changing the Climate: Information, Knowledge, Change?.
28. Tomson, A. (1903). Jean-François Millet and the Barbizon School. G. Bell and Sons.
29. Turner, P. M. (2022). Millet. DigiCat.
30. Waychoff, B. (2012). Leftovers: Performing Gleaning. Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies, 8(1), 1-24.
31. Görsel Kaynaklar
32. Görsel 1. Jean-François Millet, Başak Toplayan Kadınlar, 1857-1859, Yağlı boya, 83,5 x 110 cm, Tuval, Realist tarz, Musée d'Orsay, Paris. https://www.slam.org/explore-the-collection/millet-and-modern-art/, Erişim tarihi: 30.12.2024.