The characters in the painting are on the railroad tracks, and they are a significant contribution to the story Callicott is trying to tell. There is a low value throughout the painting, for the whole painting is dark. The clothes on the humans are dark colors, and the buildings are shadowed. Even the snow is dirty and discolored, unlike the sparkling white snow most people think about. The sky in the background has a dark, ominous look to it. Callicott uses the low value in the painting to further portray the gloominess and depression his characters are experiencing. .
The Gleaners is the epitome of the Great Depression. Not only does it depict one of the odd jobs people performed, it also illustrates the starvation and poverty of people during the time period. The three human figures are wrapped in old, dirty clothes carrying dented pails. Their appearance suggests to me that they are cold and hungry. Also, the characters" posture is hunched and feeble. The humans and the two dogs are all starving. I could especially discern this point by looking at one dog who is so malnourished that it's skin is stretched thin over all it's bones.
Burton Callicott was born in 1907 in Terre Haute, Indiana. His family moved to Memphis, Tennessee where Callicott graduated as salutatorian from his high school. Callicott's parents were divorced in 1916, and Callicott only lived with his mother thereafter. Callicott's mother, Ethel, eventually remarried a man named Michael Abt in 1925. Abt greatly influenced Callicott's art career. Abt was an artist and teacher, and Callicott began attending his stepfather's art classes. Callicott met his future wife, Evelyne Baird, at Abt's classes. Abt encouraged Callicott to pursue art, so Callicott entered the Cleveland School of Art in 1927. He graduated in 1931 with majors in sculpture and painting. However, after graduation, Callicott faced the problem of the Great Depression.
