DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.63220#0109
MILLET
emancipation, had paved the way to the expansion of certain general
ideas; so that when, later, an artist like Millet strove to give them
expression he was not regarded as an incomprehensible monstrosity.
I do no more than make bare allusion to these points, the develop-
ment of which would bring one too close to pure philosophy, but
they certainly had as much influence in Millet’s development as had
the air he breathed and the family training he received.
I have insisted at some length on this question of origins ; but in
reality it constitutes, in conjunction with the chronology of his works,
the whole biography of Millet. His story is above all one of a
mind which may be seen to grow very, very slowly, to develop
with much effort, to arrive at maturity after long patience, and to
maintain and assert itself by dint of assiduous reflection. This spec-
tacle, which brings us right to the heart of our subject, is indeed
analogous to that offered by the cultivation of the land, that labour in
which Millet took part; the plough regularly opening and softening
the soil, and the crops springing up in due season after the long, con-
tinuous and mechanical mystery of the seed’s travailing. Millet’s
life and career constitute an operation at once natural and well-
ordered. He who later was to be the painter of the peasant was
truly a peasant’s son. Think how fine a thing it would be if only
every artist, every historian, could thus develop normally in his own
surroundings, instead of discovering a compass when there is scarce
time to travel more !
What if the painter’s early years were marked by many of the
hesitations, the gropings, so to speak, which ever accompany the
surest preparations and the most prosperous voyages ? The young
peasant’s vocation was settled for him by the biblical pictures he
began spontaneously to copy. What helped him was that his family
raised no objection to this manifestation of his natural gifts. What
spurred him on somewhat was that he found himself compelled,
lacking the elements, to feel his way very cautiously at the start.
At Cherbourg, where, after his simple imitations of engravings, he
began to copy the pictures in the art gallery, Millet found in
Langlois de Chevreville, a pupil of Baron Gros, more of a protector
and a friend than a real teacher. No one taught him technique.
Like honest Chardin of old, he was forced to “ put on the paint till
it looked like the model.”
But, when one reflects upon it, was this really an impediment,
particularly in the case of a meditative, determined and subjective
nature like that of Millet ? No ; because in order to attain com-
plete, strong and harmonious expression, it was both natural and
M V
emancipation, had paved the way to the expansion of certain general
ideas; so that when, later, an artist like Millet strove to give them
expression he was not regarded as an incomprehensible monstrosity.
I do no more than make bare allusion to these points, the develop-
ment of which would bring one too close to pure philosophy, but
they certainly had as much influence in Millet’s development as had
the air he breathed and the family training he received.
I have insisted at some length on this question of origins ; but in
reality it constitutes, in conjunction with the chronology of his works,
the whole biography of Millet. His story is above all one of a
mind which may be seen to grow very, very slowly, to develop
with much effort, to arrive at maturity after long patience, and to
maintain and assert itself by dint of assiduous reflection. This spec-
tacle, which brings us right to the heart of our subject, is indeed
analogous to that offered by the cultivation of the land, that labour in
which Millet took part; the plough regularly opening and softening
the soil, and the crops springing up in due season after the long, con-
tinuous and mechanical mystery of the seed’s travailing. Millet’s
life and career constitute an operation at once natural and well-
ordered. He who later was to be the painter of the peasant was
truly a peasant’s son. Think how fine a thing it would be if only
every artist, every historian, could thus develop normally in his own
surroundings, instead of discovering a compass when there is scarce
time to travel more !
What if the painter’s early years were marked by many of the
hesitations, the gropings, so to speak, which ever accompany the
surest preparations and the most prosperous voyages ? The young
peasant’s vocation was settled for him by the biblical pictures he
began spontaneously to copy. What helped him was that his family
raised no objection to this manifestation of his natural gifts. What
spurred him on somewhat was that he found himself compelled,
lacking the elements, to feel his way very cautiously at the start.
At Cherbourg, where, after his simple imitations of engravings, he
began to copy the pictures in the art gallery, Millet found in
Langlois de Chevreville, a pupil of Baron Gros, more of a protector
and a friend than a real teacher. No one taught him technique.
Like honest Chardin of old, he was forced to “ put on the paint till
it looked like the model.”
But, when one reflects upon it, was this really an impediment,
particularly in the case of a meditative, determined and subjective
nature like that of Millet ? No ; because in order to attain com-
plete, strong and harmonious expression, it was both natural and
M V