International studio (50.1913)

The Ron art Collection.— The TTorks of Millet

possessions which together form a part of the
patrimony of a country in the same way as its
monuments, landscapes, and its cathedrals—this
loss compels one to regret anew that we have no
law, analogous to that of Italy, forbidding the
export out of France of her works of art. This
measure will assuredly be one day passed, but will
it be still in time ?
Another very beautiful Millet is the one entitled
Le Coup de Vent, a very powerful picture of a
storm. As principal motif in the painting we find
an oak torn up by its roots by the force of the
tempest and menacing in its fall a shepherd and his
flock, who flee from imminent destruction, while
through a break in a sky all covered with clouds
the light comes down over a village. This imposing
subject—a little too severe it may have been for the
taste of some of the pur¬
chasers—fell short of the
figure at which it was esti¬
mated by the experts and
fetched only 60,000 francs,
at which sum it passed to
M. Georges Bernheim.
These two pictures re¬
present the high-water
mark reached in the sale
by Millet’s paintings, but
there were other works
which deserve to be re¬
membered, and first the
robust Paysanne, a little
panel of wood 18 cm.
high by 24 cm. wide (about
14 by 19 inches), which
reached 31,000 francs; here
we find depicted the figure
of a young woman seated
against the trunk of a tree
in a meadow—her red
knitted bodice with its
blue sleeves is painted
with much richness as well
as with exceeding restraint.
Other pictures are the Effet
de Soir, a little landscape
with two large ricks (6800
francs); BCccheronnes, three
women returning from the
woods, their backs bowed
under the weight of large
bundles of faggots (40,200
francs); Les Etoilesfilantes,
a picture full of idealism,

illustrating a passage from Dante’s “Inferno,” and
originally from the collection of Alexandre Dumas
(27,000 francs); L'Amour Endormi, a charming
fantasia (10,100 francs) ; Le Barde et Ophelie (8100
francs); Entree de la Foret a Barbizon (6700
francs); Baigneuse, a work of exquisite tonality
(10,000 francs); Le Vieux Mendiant (2000 francs) ;
and La Sainte Famille (9100 francs).
Our readers will not have forgotten the Special
Winter Number of 1902 devoted by The Studio to
Corot and Millet. Here, besides a number of paint-
ings by Millet (among them the Homme a la houe
just referred to) one may also find a very beautiful
collection of the master’s drawings. These pro-
ductions figured likewise in great number in the
collection of M. Rouart, some of them being ex-
amples of premier order. This amateur in fact con-


“le repos des travailleurs ” (black chalk drawing), by j. f. millet
(Photo, E. Druet, Paris)

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