Artist of the week
Field work in all weathers
Jean-François Millet
Jean-François Millet, a French painter of country work, from the 1840s to the 1870s. A woman hurries a child home before a storm, a bundle of sticks in her arms, another rakes hay beside a stack on a misty day, and a shepherdess knits in the shade of a hedge. In the 1870s, a herdsman blows his horn against an orange sky, a woman in a long cloak minds her turkeys under a bare tree, and three tall haystacks stand under a dark sky, sheep grazing at their feet.
As a puzzle
Start with the people and the animals: the white blouse and blue sleeves of the woman with the rake, the shepherdess’s cream shawl, the turkeys, the haystacks and the flock in front of them. Retreat from the Storm is dark green and black nearly to the edges, and Calling the Cows Home is brown under an even orange sky, so both are slow. Haystacks: Autumn takes a higher count; keep the others moderate.
A good size here: 40–200 pieces.
Also filed under Barbizon School
Subjects here: AnimalsLandscapesEveryday Life
6 pictures, pick one to build
