Rentree Des Foins a Annay Sur Serein 1966

Editor: This is Michel Kikoine's "Rentree Des Foins a Annay Sur Serein," created in 1966 using oil paint, and wow, that impasto is really something. It makes me think about Van Gogh, or perhaps even later expressionists, just given how heavily the paint has been applied. What strikes you most about this work? Curator: The heavy impasto immediately grabs my attention, absolutely. It speaks volumes about the material conditions and labor involved in producing this image of rural life. Consider the price of oil paint at the time and the way the artist is almost flaunting the generous applications of his medium. This kind of tactile indulgence moves us away from purely representational concerns. Editor: So it’s about the materiality of the paint itself, not just the hay or the landscape? Curator: Precisely! The materiality informs our understanding of Kikoine’s economic position, his artistic choices, and the evolving market for art. Notice, too, how the subject matter – rural laborers and a harvest – reflects broader socioeconomic realities of the time. How might the means of agricultural production be reflected here? Editor: I hadn’t really considered that, but you're right, the return of the hay, the central theme here, is really an effect of collective labor, visible through the impasto, as something almost sculpted, by this labor? Curator: Exactly. It allows us to appreciate the artwork as the product of not only Kikoine's hand, but as a subtle echo of labor in other industries, rural economies, the whole ecosystem of making and doing which is captured by these expressionistic marks and this scene. Editor: That makes me see the whole piece in a different light. It's like the visible brushstrokes embody all the physical effort around the hay harvest! Curator: Indeed. By considering the work this way we can look beyond simple representation and appreciate the artwork as the result of both artistic labor and social contexts.