Jean-François Millet, peasant and painter; . nd he ended, laughing, Sensier, let us save thehonor of the convent! The rejection of Death and the Wood-cutter made a great noise, for no one could believe Millet to be sodevoid of talent as to merit such treatment. It looked like bruteforce. Protestations arose, and they were fierce. I will first give thewords of Alexandre Dumas (Senior): Millet lives in the fields. He has them ever under his eye, and herenders them with great truth. Look well, and you will not find in hispeasants that sickly stupidity which superficial critics or deliberate detra
Jean-François Millet, peasant and painter; . nd he ended, laughing, Sensier, let us save thehonor of the convent! The rejection of Death and the Wood-cutter made a great noise, for no one could believe Millet to be sodevoid of talent as to merit such treatment. It looked like bruteforce. Protestations arose, and they were fierce. I will first give thewords of Alexandre Dumas (Senior): Millet lives in the fields. He has them ever under his eye, and herenders them with great truth. Look well, and you will not find in hispeasants that sickly stupidity which superficial critics or deliberate detractorschoose to see, but the look of calm strength and suffering—of a being whodoes not realize his sufferings or their reason. The subjects, you say, are melancholy. Who knows if the artist doesnot tell a story with his brush, as we with our pens ? Who knows if the artistdoes not write the memoirs of his own soul, and that he is not in despairhimself at seeing these poor men work without any hope of calm, of repose, orof happiness p * * *. PEASANT AND PAINTER. 137 Even the Gazette des Beaux Arts is indignant. Two ofits advance guard open fire—Paul Mantz and Edmond wrote and Hedouin engraved the picture. Millet writes,April 2d : I will make the drawings, as it seems to be the only present resource,and I will do them as well as I can and as much as possible from real life;but, as you say, one needs a litde calm to think over ones idea until it hashad time to concentrate in the mind, in order to give well its essential , we will do the best we can. Try to get the other picture wellhung. He came a few days later to Paris, to see Hedouin, who beganthe etching of Death and the Wood-cutter. He gave him somehelp and advice and left, after being assured that he should not bemade a cause of anger or propaganda, and begging us to speak onlyof the refusal of the picture from the point of view of art, and tointroduce no politics into the discussion. He returne
Size: 1465px × 1705px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1881
