Jean–Francois Millet – Drawn into the Light

160 Pages·1999·33.7 MB·English

by  Alexandra R. Murphy et al.

JEAN-FRANCOIS
MILLET
Drawn into the Light
JEAN-FRANgOIS MILLET
Drawn into the Light
Few artists of the ninete«nth century created
works as subtly evocative, as socially poignant,
and as artistically influential as Jean-Francois
Millet did. This book examines Millet's technical
and creative achievement, focusing on his rarely
seen pastels, watercolors, and drawings, and
considering them as independent works of art,
as procedural steps toward paintings, and as
important elements in his finished pictures.
Alexandra Murphy and her co-authors explore the
ways that Millet reinvented his art and reshaped
the course of nineteenth-century painting in the
process. Through his shift away from the idealized
nudes of the academic tradition to nudes in a real
world, his confrontation with the physical land-
CO
scape of work, and his perception of the light and l 3
weather conditions that alter landscape, Millet's
pastels, watercolors, and drawings had a profound §
5- >«
impact on his artistic contemporaries. Counted SE2 CL
among his particular admirers were Degas, Seurat, CD O
CO *-*
Pissarro, Gauguin, and van Gogh, who described CD
an exhibition of Millet's pastels as "holy ground."
In this context, the authors discuss Millet's most
famous painting, The Gleaners, which not only
represents a technical and aesthetic achievement
but also serves as an essential symbol of the politi-
cal causes of the time: Millet's peasants have held
their place in social history because they are so
beautifully drawn that their gestures speak across
^eca^des, nations, and cultures.
This book is a catalogue for an exhibition that will
open at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Insti-
tute in Williams.town, Massachusetts, in June 1999
and will then travel to the Frick Art and Historical
Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Rijks-
museum Vincent van Gogh ini Amsterdam.
JEAN-FRANCOIS MILLET
STERLING AND FRANCINE
CLARK ART INSTITUTE
Williamstown, Massachusetts
in association with
THE FRICK ART & HISTORICAL CENTER
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
New Haven and London
Alexandra R. Murphy
Richard Rand
Brian T. Allen
James Ganz
Alexis Goodin
JEAN-FRANgOIS MILLET
Drawn into the Light
.
Frontispiece caption: The Shepherdess (detail), cat. 84
Copyright © 1999 by Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illus-
trations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107
and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the
public press), without written permission from the publishers.
Designed by Bessas & Ackerman
and set in Minion type by Bessas & Ackerman, Guilford, Connecticut.
Printed in Singapore by C. S. Graphics, pte.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jean-Francois Millet : drawn into the light / Alexandra R. Murphy . .
[etal.].
p. cm.
An exhibition catalog.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-300-07925-7 (alk. paper)
1. Millet, Jean- Francois, 1814-1875—Exhibitions. I. Murphy,
Alexandra R.
NC248.M55A4 1999
741.944—dc2i 99-11142
CIP
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book
Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
10 987654321
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
Michael Conforti Vll
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS LX
LENDERS TO THE EXHIBITION xiii
DRAWN INTO THE LIGHT
REDISCOVERING JEAN- FRANCOI S MILLET 1
CHRONOLOGY 31
CATALOGUE 35
NOTES 123
BIBLIOGRAPHY 127
INDEX 135