Great work transcends time, nation, and religion

This post is a continuing discussion on Professor Su Jeng-Ming's 蘇振明 seminar on May 1. In fact, the following is almost a paraphrase of his presentation on the work Jean-François Millet (1814-1875). One of the Millet's great work, 'The Angelus' or 'Prayer for the Potato Crop' (completed 1859) is a great inspiration to painters transcending time, national boundary, and religion. About a century letter, a similar work appeared in Taiwan. The lower photo is a copy of one of the works of a Taiwanese artist, Chang Chiu-Tai 張秋台(1938-). The name of the painting is called 'A Short Afternoon Rest' 午後小憩.

In the painting of 'The Angelus', Millet painted a farmer couple at the sun set with a remote church in the background. Millet was a Catholics. When he was a small boy, his dad often took him by hands walking along the shore of Normandy, a southern French coast. Seeing the sun set, his dad would remind young Millet to be thankful for the land and for the sun. His dad would say, "The setting sun is God's work." In the painting of 'The Angelus' the farmers had shown great devotion and thankfulness to God for the land and for the sun.

In the painting of 'A Short Afternoon Rest' 午後小憩 by Chang Chiu-Tai 張秋台, the setting was quite different. Taiwanese farmers were not catholics. There was no remote church in the background. Yet, the expressions of thankfulness to the land and to the sun in both paintings are the same. In fact, Millet's work has transcended time, national boundary, and religion.