International studio (50.1913)

The Ron art Collection.—The Works of Millet

sidered, and most justly, that Millet was greater as a
draughtsman than as a colourist. Take the majority
of the paintings of the great Jean Frangois, do
they not arouse admiration for their magnificent
construction, for their sympathetic and powerful
draughtsmanship, the fidelity with which their
creator has sung the life of the country, and
the beauty of the free unfettered gestures of man-
kind in close communion with nature? But
all these, and many other thoughts, are expressed
rather in line and form than by colour. Although
in his use of the latter the artist was often very
powerful or very delicate, this, it is quite evident,
was not by any means his favourite means of
expression.
Moreover, Millet rarely, if ever, used more than

a few colours, and evinced an affection for low
tones, for blacks and greys of infinite variety. Do
not let us forget that we have here—and this is
precisely his merit—a simple soul, simple as much
in thought as in artistic expression, simple and
unaffected as are the hearts of the peasants whose
lives he depicts so superbly, simple as is nature
herself.
The drawings of Millet have then the same
merits as his paintings, and are indeed in a
measure even superior to them, in that they reflect
in a manner more direct, more immediate, and
more sympathetic the man’s emotions concerning
the poem of the earth. Furthermore it is well
known that Millet attributed great importance to
his drawings, for he gave to a series of twenty-one
of these which seemed to him of the
most importance, the title of Z’Epopee des
Champs ; these are the different strophes
of that epic poem, these drawings which
were to be found at every turn in the
Rouart Collection, the remembrance of
which brings back to us a profound
emotion.
In the Rouart Collection there were
no fewer than fifty-six drawings or pastels
and one very beautiful etching by Millet;
the number alone gives us some hint
of the importance of this unique en-
semble, which was composed in almost
every case of most beautiful and rare
examples. At the same time it must be
admitted that all the drawings did not
fetch equally high prices. As the sale
went on the figures fluctuated a little,
and this variation in the values I attri-
buted to the fact that, the drawings being
so numerous, competition to possess
them was not so keen, especially when
the majority of the buyers had already
acquired examples.
One of the most important works of
the series was a pastel measuring 67 by
80 cm. (about 26 by 32 inches), entitled
Zi? Bouquet de Margzierites—an admirable
composition showing a large bunch of
marguerites in a blue vase standing on a
window-sill, while in the background
behind the flowers is seen the head of a
young girl. This well-known work—for
it was one of those shown in the Millet
Exhibition at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts—
reached the figure of 32,000 francs. An-
other pastel, a landscape without figures,
IO5

“ BERGERE APPUYEE SUR SON BATON’” (BLACK CHALK DRAWING)
BY J. F. MILLET
(Photo, E. Drt'.et, Paris)