Movement, Style, School or Type of Art:
Realism, Barbizon School
Date and Place of Birth:
October 4, 1814, Gruchy (near Gréville), France
Life:
Son of a farmer, Millet was the one French Realist painter who honestly was a peasant. After spotty training under Delaroche, Millet did conventional portraiture for (literal) bread, until gaining recognition at the Salon of 1844. His best-known, beloved scenes of everyday farming life were met with alarm and criticism when first shown. Though he lived among, and was great friends with the Barbizon landscape painters, he preferred painting his brethren peasants and did so with great empathy.
Important Works:
- The Winnower, 1847-48
- The Sower, 1850
- The Angelus, 1857-59
- The Gleaners, 1857
Date and Place of Death:
January 20, 1875, Barbizon, France
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