The exhibition of Jean-François MILLET's masterpiece, "The Gleaners".

Jean-François MILLET (1814.1875)

Autograph letter signed to the Marquis Pointel de Chenevières.

One octavo page. Cancelled envelope with wax seal on the reverse.

Barbizon, July 25, 1857.

"I would be most grateful if you would kindly arrange for my painting of the gleaners at waist height."

Millet expressed his concern to Marquis Pointel de Chenevières – director of the 1857 Fine Arts Exhibition – about the visibility of his painting The Gleaners.

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Sir, As you are making the changes to the Fine Arts exhibition, I would be most grateful if you would kindly arrange for my painting of the Gleaners at waist height. Please accept, Sir, my earnest regards. JF Millet. Barbizon, July 25, 1857.

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The Gleaners represents the culmination of ten years of work by Millet on peasant life in general and the theme of gleaners in particular. Painted in 1857, the work was exhibited that same year at the Paris Salon and received a mixed reception. While proponents of academic art were outraged to see Millet drawing inspiration from Poussin's compositions for a peasant scene, many critics praised the spiritual dimension of the work and the place of these three women in complete harmony with nature.

The work, now kept at the Musée d'Orsay, is considered one of the painter's masterpieces, and constitutes one of the leading figures of the Barbizon School.