“In the Auvergne”
Here is one from one of the founders of the Barbizon School of Art who was a huge inspiration for Vincent Van Gogh.
This oil on canvas painting dating from 1866-1869 is by the French Realism artist, Jean-François Millet, and is titled “In the Auvergne”. In it, he depicts a shepherd herding her sheep over a hill. His use of perspective makes the viewer feel as if they are at the bottom of a great hill looking up.
In 1866, Millet was staying in Auvergne with his wife and did a series of sketches that he would later turn into paintings, including this one here. Millet was inspired by the inhabitants of this region, and he painted this piece while living north in Barbizon, France. He said, “the people are far more like peasants than those at Barbizon”.
His paintings from this time highlight the peasants from Auvergne and the rural labor that they employed. He wanted to show that their way of life, despite the advent of modern technology, was still hard living.
“In the Auvergne” is currently in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.
For more on Jean-François Millet, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
