How Much Is The Gleaners Worth?
Last updated: February 7, 2026
Quick Facts
- Methodology
- comparable analysis
The Gleaners by Jean-François Millet is an inalienable French national treasure at the Musée d’Orsay, so any price is hypothetical. Based on trophy-level comparables for universally recognized 19th-century icons, a current market-equivalent/insurance bracket is $120–200 million.
Valuation Analysis
Conclusion: Jean‑François Millet’s The Gleaners (1857) is a non‑marketable French national treasure housed at the Musée d’Orsay; works in the French state collections are inalienable and not for sale. For a defensible market‑equivalent/insurance valuation today, the appropriate bracket is $120–200 million, reflecting the painting’s singular art‑historical importance and cross‑category trophy demand [1][2].
Method: We anchor the estimate to recent nine‑figure results for universally recognized 19th‑/early‑modern masterpieces. Key benchmarks include Claude Monet’s Meules (Haystacks) at $110.7 million (2019) [3]; Gustav Klimt’s Dame mit Fächer at $108.4 million (2023) [4]; Edvard Munch’s The Scream (pastel) at $119.9 million (2012) [5]; and Georges Seurat’s Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version) at $149.2 million (2022, Paul G. Allen sale) [6]. These comparables establish the current appetite of global trophy buyers for canon‑level images.
Positioning The Gleaners among comps: Within Millet’s oeuvre, The Gleaners is an absolute masterpiece—arguably his most iconic image alongside The Angelus—and a cornerstone of 19th‑century Realism. Its subject (rural labor), visibility in foundational art‑history narratives, and near‑universal cultural recognition place it in the same symbolic register as The Scream (an image whose fame transcends the artist’s broader market) [1][5]. While the Monet and Klimt markets are structurally deeper, The Gleaners’ iconic status, scale (c. 83.5 × 110 cm), and oil medium justify a significant trophy premium relative to the broader Millet market.
Adjustments and rationale: Although Millet’s routine auction ceiling is far below Impressionist and early‑modern blue chips, masterpieces of exceptional cultural resonance can command prices many multiples above an artist’s typical record. We calibrate downward from the Seurat range to acknowledge category depth differences, then upward relative to Monet/Klimt based on The Gleaners’ unique cultural presence and irreplaceability. The resulting $120–200 million bracket aligns with the middle‑to‑upper span of the cited comps and reflects what a fully unconstrained, globally promoted sale might realize.
Practical notes: The work’s inalienable legal status eliminates real‑world liquidity, but for insurance/market‑equivalent purposes the above range is appropriate. Final pricing in a hypothetical sale would be sensitive to condition, guarantee terms, and macro liquidity. Nonetheless, by any reasonable cross‑category standard, The Gleaners would trade deep into the nine figures if ever exposed to the open market [2][3][4][6].
Key Valuation Factors
Art Historical Significance
High ImpactThe Gleaners is a defining image of 19th‑century French Realism and among Millet’s two or three most important works. Debuted at the 1857 Salon, it crystallizes the era’s social concerns through a monumental treatment of rural labor. Its composition, subject, and visibility in textbooks, exhibitions, and museum displays have made it one of the most reproduced and globally recognized pictures of the period. This level of cultural penetration—akin to a handful of other 19th‑century icons—creates demand that transcends the typical artist market, a key driver of the nine‑figure trophy premium.
Trophy-Market Comparables
High ImpactRecent results for universally recognized masterpieces demonstrate durable, deep buyer demand at nine figures: Monet’s Meules at $110.7m (2019), Klimt’s Lady with a Fan at $108.4m (2023), Munch’s The Scream at $119.9m (2012), and Seurat’s Les Poseuses (petite) at $149.2m (2022). While Millet’s broader market is thinner, The Gleaners’ fame is on par with these benchmarks, particularly The Scream in terms of cultural resonance. Using these sales as anchors, and adjusting for category depth and artist-market differentials, justifies a valuation comfortably within the $120–200m range.
Scarcity and Irreplaceability
High ImpactThere is no true substitute for The Gleaners within Millet’s oeuvre or the 1850s Realist canon. Works of this historical caliber are almost never available, and when a composition has become synonymous with an artist’s legacy, the absence of close substitutes amplifies willingness to pay. The painting’s residence in a major national museum further underscores its singularity: collectors know equivalently canonical 19th‑century icons appear only once in a generation—if ever—so the theoretical market-clearing price must incorporate a premium for absolute scarcity and cultural irreplaceability.
Legal/Institutional Status
Medium ImpactAs part of France’s public collections, The Gleaners is inalienable by law, removing the possibility of normal market transactions. While this restricts real-world liquidity, it does not diminish insurance or market-equivalent value; if anything, state-museum status signals peerless importance and condition stewardship. For valuation, we treat the legal constraint as neutral to the intrinsic price level in a hypothetical sale, but acknowledge that actual disposals are not permitted—hence the emphasis on an insurance-style, market-equivalent bracket rather than an auction estimate.
Sale History
The Gleaners has never been sold at public auction.
Jean-Francois Millet's Market
Jean‑François Millet’s market is scholarly and stable, concentrated in drawings, pastels, and characteristic Barbizon/peasant subjects. Top publicized auction prices have clustered in the low‑ to mid‑seven figures, with a widely cited record just under $2 million for a pastel (Christie’s, 2014). Mid‑tier oils vary widely depending on quality and provenance, often trading in the five‑ to low six‑figure range at day sales, while fresh, well‑documented works on paper can achieve mid‑ to high six figures. Although far below Impressionist and early‑modern blue chips in depth and frequency, demand for Millet’s most emblematic subjects is durable—and a singular, canonical icon like The Gleaners would command a trophy premium that vastly exceeds the routine artist market.
Comparable Sales
Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan)
Gustav Klimt
Cross-category trophy benchmark for a universally recognized late-19th/early-20th-century icon; demonstrates current nine-figure demand for canonical European masterpieces.
$108.4M
2023, Sotheby's London
~$115.2M adjusted
Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version)
Georges Seurat
19th-century icon by a foundational modern master; small version of a seminal composition. Serves as a direct nine-figure anchor for museum-grade 19th-century works.
$149.2M
2022, Christie's New York
~$165.2M adjusted
The Scream (pastel)
Edvard Munch
One of the most recognizable images in Western art; shows the ‘trophy premium’ paid for universal cultural icons even in non-oil mediums—relevant to valuing a singular masterpiece like The Gleaners.
$119.9M
2012, Sotheby's New York
~$169.5M adjusted
Meules (Haystacks)
Claude Monet
Top-tier 19th-century icon with rural/agrarian subject and global recognition; a clear precedent for nine-figure pricing of canonical images from the period.
$110.7M
2019, Sotheby's New York
~$140.4M adjusted
Le Printemps (Jeanne Demarsy)
Édouard Manet
Major 19th-century French masterpiece by a peer artist; illustrates the ceiling for iconic Realist/Impressionist-era works in public auction.
$65.1M
2014, Christie's New York
~$89.2M adjusted
Current Market Trends
Across the last decade, top-tier, cross‑category ‘trophies’ have retained strong buyer support, with several universally recognized 19th‑/early‑modern masterpieces achieving nine‑figure prices. Monet’s Meules (2019) and Klimt’s Lady with a Fan (2023) reaffirmed appetite for canonical European pictures, while Seurat’s and Munch’s results show buyers pay for cultural icons even outside the deepest markets. By contrast, the mid‑tier for 19th‑century European art remains selective and quality‑driven. In this environment, a museum‑grade, culturally emblematic work like The Gleaners would competitively engage the global trophy‑buyer pool and clear well into nine figures in a hypothetical, unconstrained sale.
Sources
- Musée d’Orsay – Des glaneuses (Object record)
- Légifrance – Code du patrimoine (Inalienability of public collections)
- Sotheby’s – Monet’s Meules sells for $110.7m (2019)
- The Guardian – Klimt’s Lady with a Fan sells for £85.3m/$108.4m (2023)
- Wikipedia – The Scream (2012 sale price and context)
- Investopedia – Paul G. Allen Collection results (Seurat at $149.2m)