Backbreaking labour is depicted in Millet's Man with a Hoe, the last of his most controversial peasant paintings which have subsequently been labelled as 'socialist' by a variety of writers. It sits among The Sower, which Robert Hughes referred to as 'the Mona Lisa of socialism', alongside The Gleaners and The Angelus all by the same artist, and some of which will be making an appearance at the upcoming National Gallery exhibition in London. At first glance, this sizeable canvas appears relatively simple in composition - an isolated figure against an earthy palette and limited grey sky, pushed to the very limits of human effort, whilst others labour in the background, secondary to the torturous scene in front of the viewer. Meanings range from political commentary, referencing the age of mass production in the mid nineteenth century, the growth of modern farming techniques and negation of the rural worker, to symbolic suggestions of the Man as a hero for the working warrior, leaning on the hilt of his sword as he prepares to do battle with the landscape again, finding the willpower to push on and continue.
Although man and nature work against each other in the depiction of the labourer, Millet in fact draws parallels between the natural world and humanity. Overall, the composition remains blocky and angular. The leaning back of the Man almost recalls the figures in The Gleaners, an angle which is repeated in his buckling arms and the soft bend in the tool which he rests on to catch his breath. This is an uncomfortable position, implying that anything is preferable to the exhausting labour he must undertake. The curves and angularity of the canvas are further illustrated by the rocks behind the figure, peaks and troughs which give some perspective to a predominantly two-dimensional work, whilst reflecting the harshness of the landscape and the perpetual highs and lows of manual labour. The figure's rectangular feet are wedged into the ground and weighted down like the stones that surround him, drawing parallels between nature and Man. Similarly, the figure's facial features become blocky and rock-like, with his open mouth, deeply set eyes and large nose. Whilst at the time, the critic Paul de Saint-Victor famously referred to the Man as a 'cretin' who had seemingly escaped from a mental asylum, perhaps Millet was in fact hoping to draw out the connections between man and nature, implying that the Man still holds the strength and stoicism of the natural world within him, and the capacity to continue labouring even against all odds.
On the large canvas, Millet's approach to the texture of painting becomes evident. In places, the ground and soil are so abstracted that they become masses of blurred browns, yellows and greens, which are reflected in the flecks of dirt and mud that the artist swipes across the figure's clothing. These are particularly evident around his knees, perhaps even suggesting that the physical exhaustion of his plight has at some point led him to drop to his knees in surrender. Millet meanwhile conveys the folds and creases of clothing with quick, painterly precision. Despite the heaviness of the figure's facial features and the blocky structure of his body, his clothes actually fit him relatively poorly, noticeable for instance around the neck and waist. Again, a sense of the figure's plight and poverty is conveyed in his ill-fitting, dirty worker's uniform. Additionally, it is difficult to ascertain how long the Man has been working. Millet's use of lighting is ambiguous, hitting the figure head on, enabling his exhausted facial features to become readable - possibly, this is the glint of the setting sun, or is it in fact rising, to suggest yet another day of monotonous labour? His neglected hat and coat seem to imply the short distance he has managed, whilst drawing the viewer's eye to the unworkable mud he trudges through and in turn, Millet's abstracted colour scheme. It also serves to create some perspective, leading a viewer into the painting's background where there is another figure working on the haystacks, as the eye retreats further back and into the barren wasteland beyond.
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