Art Appreciation Lecture Series 2017 Site Specific: The power of place

Barbizon and Jean François Millet

Dr Chiara O’Reilly

24 and 25 of May 2017

Lecture summary:

Barbizon and Jean François Millet (1814-1875)

The French painter Jean François Millet moved to the village of Barbizon, 60kms south east of Paris, in 1849 and lived there until his death in 1875. This lecture will explore Millet’s art by focusing on his depictions of two key spaces in Barbizon. The first of these is the space of agricultural labour in the fields surrounding the village, while the second is a more intimate space of daily life in the village and home. In considering these two environments, I explore key themes in his art and examine his role in depicting an image and experience of place.

Slide list: NB All works by Millet unless stated.

1. The Sower, 1850, oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 2. Millet’s garden at Barbizon, c 1853, Black crayon on paper, Musée Bonnat, Bayonne 3. Eugène Cuvelier, The Boundary of Barbizon, Early 1860s, Salted paper print from paper negative, Private Collection 4. Women carrying Loads of dried grasses at the entrance to a village, c1850, charcoal, chalk and watercolour on laid paper, Art Gallery of Ontario 5. Entrance to the Forest at Barbizon in Winter, c1866-67, Crayon and pastel on paper, MFA, Boston 6. Springtime, 1868-1873, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay 7. The Gleaners, 1857, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay 8. Jules Breton, Return of the Gleaners, 1859, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay 9. Man with a Hoe, 1860-62, oil on canvas, The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center 10. The Haymakers' Rest, 1848, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay 11. The Haymakers, Salon of 1850, oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre 12. Haystacks: Autumn, c 1874, oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum, New York 13. The Angelus, 1857-1859, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay 14. The Shepherdess: Plains of Barbizon, ca 1862 oil on panel, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute., Williamstown, Mass 15. Shepherdess with her Flock, 1858, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay. 16. Woman Pasturing her Cow, c1856-67, Black conté crayon on paper, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia 17. Young Woman Churning Butter, c 1848-51, oil on Panel, MFA, Boston

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18. Woman Baking Bread, c 1852-56, Black conté crayon and pen and brown ink with white chalk on paper, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge 19. Morning Toilette, about 1860-62, Crayon and pastel on paper, MFA, Boston 20. Woman mending, 1853, Black conté crayon on blue grey paper, Private Collection, London 21. Knitting lesson, 1854, oil on canvas, MFA, Boston 22. The Knitting Lesson, about 1860, oil on panel, MFA, Boston 23. The Knitting Lesson, 1869, oil on canvas, Saint Louis Art Museum 24. First steps, c1858-1859, pastel, The Cleveland Museum of Art 25. The Sick Child, 1858, black crayon, The Cleveland Museum of Art 26. 20th Century Postcards – showing Millet’s house and studio, Private Collection 27. Frédéric Jacque, Millet in his studio, illustration in Le livre d’or de Jean-Francois Millet par un ancien ami, etching, Musée Thomas Henry, Cherbourg 28. 20th Century Postcard: Millet’s studio at the time of his death, Private Collection 29. The Monument to Millet and Rousseau, inaugurated in Barbizon, 14 April 1884, Illustration from the cover of Le Monde Illustré, 19 April 1884, Bibliothèque nationale de France 30. Women and man pose with Portrait of Rousseau and Millet, Fontainebleau, unknown date, Lantern Slide, University of Michigan Collection 31. Photographs of Barbizon, 2015.

Reference:

Adams, Steven (1994), The Barbizon School & The Origins of Impressionism (London: Phaidon). Daniel, Malcom (1996), Eugène Cuvelier. Photographer in the Circle of Corot (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art). Herbert, Robert (1976), Millet, Hayward Gallery, 22 January-7 March 1976 / Arts Council of Great Britain (London: Arts Council of Great Britain). Herbert, Robert L. (1966), 'Millet Reconsidered', Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 1 28-65. Jones, Kimberly, et al. (2008), In the forest of Fontainebleau: painters and photographers from Corot to Monet (Washington: Yale University Press). Murphy, Alexandra R (et al) (1999), Jean-Franç ois Millet : drawn into the light (Williamstown, Mass. : Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute ; Pittsburgh, Pa. : Frick Art & Historical Center ; New Haven: Yale University Press, c 1999.). Pollock, Griselda (1977), Millet (London: Oresko Books ). Sensier, Alfred (1881), Jean-François Millet: Peasant and Painter trans. Helena De Kay (Boston: James R Osgood and Company ). Waller, Susan (2008), 'Rustic Poseurs: Peasant Models in the Practice of Jean-François Millet and Jules Breton', Art History 31 (2), 187-210.

For access to all past lecture notes visit: https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/members/current-members/member-events/site-specific/