Jean-François Millet

Jean-François Millet painted peasants at work with great dignity. His farmworkers sow, reap and gather in wide fields, their figures heavy and simple like monuments, and his colour is earthy and warm.

He was born in Gruchy in Normandy to a farming family and studied in Cherbourg and in Paris under Paul Delaroche. In 1849 he moved to Barbizon near the Forest of Fontainebleau, where he lived for the rest of his life and joined the Barbizon painters. The Sower, The Gleaners and The Angelus are his most famous works; The Gleaners and The Angelus hang in the Musée d’Orsay. He greatly influenced Van Gogh, who copied many of his compositions.

Harvester Resting and Knitting Lesson show his quieter side. Look at how he gives ordinary work a sense of weight and calm.