Jean Francois Millet 1

Jean Francois Millet 1

Jean Francois Millet: Estelle M. Hurll JEAN FRANCOIS MILLET A Collection of Fifteen Pictures and a Portrait of the Painter, with Introduction and Interpretation by ESTELLE M. HURLL The Riverside Art Series 1900 [Illustration: JEAN FRANCOIS MILLET] PREFACE In making a selection of Millet's pictures, devoted as they are to the single theme of French peasant life, variety of subject can be obtained only by showing as many phases of that life as possible. Our illustrations therefore represent both men and women working separately in the tasks peculiar to each, and working together in the labors shared between them. There are in addition a few pictures of child life. The selections include a study of the field, the dooryard, and the home interior, and range from the happiest to the most sombre subjects. They show also considerable variety in artistic motive and composition, and taken together fairly represent the scope of Millet's work. ESTELLE M. HURLL. NEW BEDFORD, MASS. March, 1900. CONTENTS AND LIST OF PICTURES PORTRAIT OF MILLET. DRAWN BY HIMSELF INTRODUCTION      I.   ON MILLET'S CHARACTER AS AN ARTIST      II.  ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE      III. HISTORICAL DIRECTORY OF THE PICTURES OF THIS COLLECTION      IV.  OUTLINE TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN MILLET'S LIFE      V.   SOME OF MILLET'S ASSOCIATES I.    GOING TO WORK II.   THE KNITTING LESSON III.  THE POTATO PLANTERS IV.   THE WOMAN SEWING BY LAMPLIGHT V.    THE SHEPHERDESS VI.   THE WOMAN FEEDING HENS VII.  THE ANGELUS VIII. FILLING THE WATER-BOTTLES IX.   FEEDING HER BIRDS X.    THE CHURCH AT GREVILLE XI.   THE SOWER XII.  THE GLEANERS XIII. THE MILKMAID XIV.  THE WOMAN CHURNING XV.   THE MAN WITH THE HOE XVI.  THE PORTRAIT OF MILLET PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF PROPER NAMES AND FOREIGN WORDS NOTE: All the pictures were made from carbon prints by Braun, Clement & Co. INTRODUCTION I. ON MILLET'S CHARACTER AS AN ARTIST The distinctive features of Millet's art are so marked that the most inexperienced observer easily identifies his work. As a painter of rustic subjects, he is unlike any other artists who have entered the same field, even those who have taken his own themes. We get at the heart of the matter when we say that Millet derived his art directly from nature. "If I could only do what I like," he said, "I would paint nothing that was not the result of an impression directly received from nature, whether in landscape or in figure." His pictures are convincing evidence that he acted upon this theory. They have a peculiar quality of genuineness beside which all other rustic art seems forced and artificial. The human side of life touched him most deeply, and in many of his earlier pictures, landscape was secondary. Gradually he grew into the larger conception of a perfect harmony between man and his environment. Henceforth landscape ceased to be a mere setting or background in a figure picture, and became an organic part of the composition. As a critic once wrote of the Shepherdess, "the earth and sky, the scene and the actors, all answer one another, all hold together, belong together." The description applies equally well to many other pictures and particularly to the Angelus, the Sower, and the Gleaners. In all these, landscape and figure are interdependent, fitting together in a perfect unity. As a painter of landscapes, Millet mastered a wide range of the effects of changing light during different hours of the day. The mists of early morning in Filling the Water-Bottles; the glare of noonday in the Gleaners; the sunset glow in the Angelus and the Shepherdess; the sombre twilight of the Sower; and the glimmering lamplight of the Woman Sewing, each found perfect interpretation. Though showing himself capable of representing powerfully the more violent aspects of nature, he preferred as a rule the normal and quiet. In figure painting Millet sought neither grace nor beauty, but expression. That he regarded neither of these first two qualities as intrinsically unworthy, we may infer from the grace of the Sower, and the naive beauty of the Shepherdess and the Woman Sewing. But that expression was of paramount interest to him we see clearly in the Angelus and the Man with the Hoe. The leading characteristic of his art is strength, and he distrusted the ordinary elements of prettiness as taking something from the total effect he wished to produce. "Let no one think that they can force me to prettify my types," he said. "I would rather do nothing than express myself feebly." It was always his first aim to make his people look as if they belonged to their station. The "mute inglorious Milton" and Maud Muller with her "nameless longings" had no place on his canvases. His was the genuine peasant of field and farm, no imaginary denizen of the poets' Arcady. "The beautiful is the fitting," was his final summary of æsthetic theory, and the theory was put into practice on every canvas. In point of composition Millet's pictures have great excellence. "I try not to have things look as if chance brought them together," he said, "but as if they had a necessary bond between them." So nothing is accidental, but every object, however small, is an indispensable part of the whole scheme. An important characteristic of his work is its power to suggest the third dimension of space. The figures have a solid, tangible appearance, as if actually alive. The Gleaners, the Woman Churning, and the Man with the Hoe are thoroughly convincing in their reality. The picture of the Gleaners especially has that so-called "quality of circumambient light" which circulates about the objects, so to speak, and gives them position in space. Millet's landscapes also have a depth of spaciousness which reaches into infinite distance. The principles of composition are applied in perspective as well as laterally. We can look into the picture, through it, and beyond it, as if we were standing in the presence of nature. Mr. Bernhard Berenson goes so far as to say that this art of "space composition," as he terms it, can "directly communicate religious emotion," and explains on this ground the devotional influence of Perugino's works, which show so remarkable a feeling for space.[1] If he is right, it is on this principle, rather than because of its subject, that the Angelus is, as it has sometimes been called, "one of the greatest religious paintings of the age." While Millet's art is, in its entirety, quite unique, there are certain interesting points of resemblance between his work and that of some older masters. He is akin to Rembrandt both in his indifference to beauty and in his intense love of human nature. Millet's indifference to beauty is the more remarkable because in this he stood alone in his day and generation, while in the northern art of the seventeenth century, of which Rembrandt is an exponent, beauty was never supreme. As a lover of human nature, Millet's sympathies, though no less intense than Rembrandt's, were less catholic. His range of observation was limited to peasant life, while the Dutch master painted all classes and conditions of men. Yet both alike were profound students of character and regarded expression as the chief element of beauty. Rembrandt, however, sought expression principally in the countenance, and Millet had a fuller understanding of the expressiveness of the entire body. The work of each thus complements that of the other. Millet's passion for figure expression was first worked out in painting the nude. When he abandoned such subjects for the homelier themes of labor, he gave no less attention to the study of form and attitude. The simple clothing of the peasant is cut so loosely as to give entire freedom of motion to the body, and it is worn so long that it shapes itself perfectly to the figure. The body thus clad is scarcely inferior to the nude in assuming the fine lines of an expressive pose. Millet's instinct for pose was that of a sculptor. Many of the figures for his pictures were first carefully modelled in wax or clay. Transferred to canvas they are drawn in the strong simple outlines of a statue. It is no extravagant flight of fancy which has likened him to Michelangelo. In the strength and seriousness of his conceptions, the bold sweep of his lines, and, above all, in the impression of motion which he conveys, he has much in common with the great Italian master. Like Michelangelo, Millet gives first preference to the dramatic moment when action is imminent. The Sower is in the act of casting the seed into the ground, as David is in the act of stretching his sling. As we look, we seem to see the hand complete its motion. So also the Gleaners, the Women Filling the Water-Bottles, and the Potato Planters are all portrayed in attitudes of performance. When Millet represents repose it is as an interval of suspended action, not as the end of completed work. The Shepherdess pauses but a moment in her walk and will immediately move on again. The man and woman of the Angelus rest only for the prayer and then resume their work. The Man with the Hoe snatches but a brief respite from his labors. The impression of power suggested by his figure, even in immobility, recalls Michelangelo's Jeremiah. To the qualities which are reminiscent of Michelangelo Millet adds another in which he is allied to the Greeks. This is his tendency towards generalization. It is the typical rather than the individual which he strives to present. "My dream," he once wrote, "is to characterize the type." So his figures, like those of Greek sculpture, reproduce no particular model, but are the general type deduced from the study of many individuals. [Footnote 1: In _Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance_.] II. ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE Since the death of Millet, in 1875, much that is interesting and valuable has been written of his life and work. The first biography of the painter was that by his friend Sensier, in a large illustrated volume whose contents have been made familiar to English readers by an abridged translation published in this country simultaneously with the issue of the French edition. Containing all the essential facts of Millet's outward life, besides a great number of the artist's letters, together with his autobiographical reminiscences of childhood, Sensier's work is the principal source of information, from which all later writers draw. Yet it is not an altogether fair and satisfactory presentation of Millet's life. Undue emphasis is laid upon his struggles with poverty, and the book leaves much to be desired. Julia Cartwright's recent work, "Jean Francois Millet: His Life and Letters," is founded on Sensier's life, yet rounds out the study of the master's character and work with the fuller knowledge with which family and friends have described his career. Another recent book called "J.F. Millet and Rustic Art" is by Henry Naegely (published in England), and is critical rather than biographical in purport. It is a sympathetic appreciation of Millet's art and character, and grows out of a careful study of the painter's works and an intimate connection with the Millet family. Besides these books devoted exclusively to the subject, the life work of Millet is admirably sketched in brief form in the following more general works:-- Richard Muther's "History of Modern Painting," Mrs. Stranahan's "History of French Painting," Rose G. Kingsley's "History of French Art," and D.C. Thomson's "Barbizon School." Of great importance to the student of Millet are the various articles contributed to the magazines by those who knew and understood the painter. The following are of special note: By Edward W. Wheelwright, in "The Atlantic Monthly," September, 1876; by Wyatt Eaton, in the "Century," May, 1889; by T.H. Bartlett, in "Scribner's," May and June, 1890; by Pierre Millet, in "Century," January, 1893, and April, 1894; and by Will Low, in "McClure's," May, 1896. Julia Cartwright, in the preface to the above mentioned biography, mentions other magazine articles not so generally accessible. III. HISTORICAL DIRECTORY OF THE PICTURES OF THIS COLLECTION _Portrait frontispiece_, a life-size crayon made by Millet in 1847 and given to his friend Charlier. It afterwards became the property of Sensier.. 1. _Going to Work_, one of several versions of the subject in different mediums, oil, pastel, drawing, and etching. This picture was painted in 1851, and was at one time (1891) in a private collection in Glasgow.[1] It is to be distinguished from the picture of 1850, where the woman carries a pitcher instead of a rope.[2] 2. _The Knitting Lesson_, a drawing corresponding in general composition, with some changes of detail, to the small painting (17 by 14-1/2 in.) of the subject in the collection of Mrs. Martin Brimmer, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 3. _The Potato Planters_, painted in 1862, and exhibited at the great exhibition at Paris of that year, also again in 1867 at the International Exhibition. It changed hands for large sums during the painter's lifetime, and is now in the Quincy A. Shaw collection, Boston, Mass. 4. _The Woman Sewing by Lamplight_, painted in 1872, and sold in 1873 for 38,500 francs, the highest price at that time ever paid for one of Millet's works. 5. _The Shepherdess_, painted in 1862, and exhibited at the Salon of 1864, also again at the Exposition Universelle of 1867. It is now in the collection of M. Chauchard. 6. _The Woman Feeding Hens_, a charcoal sketch, corresponding in general composition to the description of a painting bearing the same name, which was painted in 1854 for M. Letrone for 2000 francs. 7. _The Angelus_, an oil painting measuring 25 by 21 in. The first drawing for the picture was sold February, 1858. The painting was completed for exhibition in the Salon of 1859. It was declined by the patron for whom it was intended, and finally sold to a Belgian artist in 1860, and soon afterwards to the Belgian minister. The original price was 2000 francs. The picture passed from one owner to another, and in 1873 was bought by J.W. Wilson for 50,000 francs, later bringing at the Wilson sale of 1881 the sum of ￡6400. In an auction sale of the Secretan collection, July, 1889, there was an immense excitement over the contest between the French government, represented by M. Proust, Director of Fine Arts, and various American dealers, who were determined to win the prize. It was finally knocked down to M. Proust for 553,000 francs, but the French government refused to ratify the purchase, and the picture was brought to the United States. Here the customs duty exacted was so enormous (￡7000) that the picture remained only six months (the duty being waived during that period), and after being exhibited throughout the country finally returned to France, where it was purchased for ￡32,000 by M. Chauchard, who has the finest collection of Millets in existence. 8. _Filling the Water-Bottles,_ a charcoal drawing, which attracted much attention when exhibited in the Millet collection of the Paris Exposition, 1889. 9. _Feeding Her Birds_, painted in 1860, and exhibited in Salon of 1861. Presented by a purchaser to the Museum of Lille in 1871. 10. _The Church at Greville_, sketched during Millet's visit at Greville in the summer of 1871; referred to by him, in a letter of 1872, as still in process of painting; found in his studio at the time of his death, in 1875. The picture was bought by the French government, and is now in the Louvre, Paris. 11. _The Sower_, the second painting of the subject, painted in 1850, and exhibited in the Salon of 1850-51. It is now in the Vanderbilt collection, New York. A pencil sketch of the Sower is in the collection of Millet's drawings, at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.[3] 12. _The Gleaners_, a painting first exhibited at the Salon of 1867. It was sold to M. Binder of l'Isle Adam for 2000 francs. In 1889 it was purchased by Madame Pommeroy for 300,000 francs, and presented to the Louvre, Paris. A pencil drawing of the three figures is in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. 13. _The Milkmaid_, painted in 1871 from a sketch made in Greville. Seen in Millet's studio in 1873 by Will Low, the American artist. 14. _The Woman Churning_, one of several versions of the subject, the first of which appeared in 1870. 15. _The Man with the Hoe_, painted in 1862 and exhibited at the Salon of 1863. Sold to a Belgian collector, and long in Brussels. It is now owned by Mr. W.S. Crocker of San Francisco, Cal. [Footnote 1: See D.C. Thomson's _Barbizon School_, pp. 226, 227.] [Footnote 2: See Julia Cartwright, _Life and Letters of Jean Francois Millet_, pp. 114,115.] [Footnote 3: This is one of an interesting collection of drawings in this museum, which also contains several original paintings by Millet, a Shepherdess, seated, a portrait of the painter, and others. Other fine Millets are in the private collections of Boston, where the painter received early appreciation, owing to the enthusiasm of William Morris Hunt, the painter, and such connoisseurs as Mr. Quincy Shaw and Mr. Brimmer.] IV. OUTLINE TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN MILLET'S LIFE 1814.  Millet born, October 4, in hamlet of Gruchy, commune of Greville, in         the old province of Normandy, France. 1832.  Two months' study with Mouchel in Cherbourg.            Death of Millet's father.            Study with Langlois in Cherbourg. 1837.  Removal to Paris, supported by annuity of 400 francs from the         municipality of Cherbourg.[1] 1837-1839 (?). Studies with Delaroche.[2] 1840.  A portrait of M.L.F. exhibited at Salon of the Louvre. 1841.  Portrait of Mademoiselle Antoinette Feuardent.            Marriage with Mademoiselle Pauline Virginie Ono in Cherbourg. 1842.  Returned to Paris. 1844.  Millet exhibited at Salon: the Milkmaid, the Riding Lesson.            Death of Millet's wife, April 21, and Millet's return home for             18 months. 1845.  Marriage with Catherine Lemaire late in summer, in Greville.            Visit in Havre in November.            Arrival in Paris in December, and residence in the rue             Rochehouart. 1847.  Oedipus taken from the Tree exhibited at the Salon. 1848.  Millet exhibited at the Salon the Winnower, bought by M.         Ledru-Rollin for 500 francs, and the Captivity of the Jews in         Babylon. 1849.  Removal to Barbizon. 1850.  The Sower painted and exhibited at the Salon with the Sheaf Binders. 1851.  Death of Millet's grandmother, Louise Jumelin, at Gruchy. 1853.  Death of Millet's mother at Gruchy.            Millet exhibited at the Salon:--              Ruth and Boaz, bought by an American.              The Sheep Shearer,} bought by William Morris              The Shepherd,     } Hunt. 1854.  Visit four months to the surroundings of the old home in Normandy. 1855.  The Grafter, exhibited at the Salon. 1856.  Le Pare aux Moutons painted. 1857.  The Gleaners exhibited at the Salon. 1859.  The Angelus exhibited at the Salon. 1860-1861. The Shepherd in the Fold by Moonlight, and the Femme aux Seaux. 1861.  The Potato Planters painted.            Millet exhibited at the Salon of the Champs Elysees:              Feeding Her Birds.              Waiting.              The Sheep Shearer. 1862.  List of pictures painted:--              Winter.              The Crows.              Sheep Feeding.              The Wool Carder.              The Stag.              The Birth of the Calf.              The Shepherdess.              The Man with the Hoe. 1863.  Millet sent to Salon: Man with the Hoe, The Wool Carder (see list of         works in 1862), and a Shepherd bringing Home his Sheep. 1864.  Millet exhibited at the Salon: The Shepherdess, and The Birth of the         Calf (see list of works in 1862). 1865.  Completion of decorative pictures for M. Thomas: Spring and Summer,         panels 8 by 4 ft., set in the woodwork; Autumn for the ceiling;         Winter for the chimneypiece. 1866.  Short visit to Vichy, Auvergne, Clermont, Issoire. 1867.  Millet exhibited at the Exposition Universelle (International         Exhibition):--              Death and the Woodcutter (refused by the Salon of 1859).              The Gleaners.              The Shepherdess.              The Sheep Shearer.              The Shepherd.              The Sheep Fold.              The Potato Planters.              The Potato Harvest.              The Angelus.            Visit to Vichy in June. 1867-69. The Pig Killers. 1868.  Millet made Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, August 13.            Journey with Sensier in Alsace and Switzerland, September. 1870.  Millet elected, March 24, juror for coming exposition.            The Woman Churning exhibited at the Salon.            Departure for Greville on account of danger of remaining             in Barbizon during the war. 1871.  Return to Barbizon November 7. 1874.  Order from Administration of Beaux Arts for mural decorations in         the Pantheon (Ste. Genevieve), Paris.            The Priory painted. 1875.  Death of Millet, January 20, at Barbizon. [Footnote 1: To this was added later 600 francs from the General Council of La Manche, but both annuities were soon discontinued.] [Footnote 2: The exact date of Millet's severing connection with Delaroche is not mentioned by his biographers, though the circumstances are detailed.] V. SOME OF MILLET'S ASSOCIATES Companions in the studio of Delaroche:--   Charles Francois Hebert (1817- ).   Jalabert (1819- ).   Thomas Couture (1815-1879).   Edouard Frere (1819-1886).   Adolphe Yvon (1817- ).   Antigna (1818-1878).   Prosper Louis Roux (1817- ).   Marolle.   Cavalier, sculptor.   Gendron (1817-1881). Friends and neighbors in Paris:--   Couture (also fellow student in studio of Delaroche).   Tourneaux (1809-1867), painter and poet.   Diaz (1808-1876), landscape painter.   Joseph Guichard (1836-1877), marine painter.   Charles Jacque (1813- ), etcher.   Campredon.   Sechan, clever scene painter.   Dieterle, clever scene painter.   Eugene Lacoste.   Azevedo, musical critic. Friends at Barbizon:--   Charles Jacque (who removed thither with him).   Diaz (also a friend of the Paris days).   Corot (1796-1875).   Theodore Rousseau (1812-1867).   Laure (1806-1861).   William Morris Hunt, American painter.   Mr. Hearn, American painter.   Mr. Babcock, American painter.   Edward Wheelwright, American painter.   Wyatt Eaton, American painter.   Will Low, American painter. I GOING TO WORK On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, where the sea forms a narrow channel separating the British Isles from the European continent, lies that part of France known as the old province of Normandy. There is here a very dangerous and precipitous coast lined with granite cliffs. The villages along the sea produce a hardy race of peasants who make bold fishermen on the water and thrifty farmers on the land. To this Norman peasant stock belonged Jean Francois Millet, the painter of the pictures reproduced in this little book. He was brought up to hard out-of-door labor on his father's farm in the village of Greville, but when the artistic impulses within him could no longer be repressed, he left his home to study art. Though he became a famous painter, he always remained at heart a true peasant. He set up his home and his studio in a village called Barbizon, near the Forest of Fontainebleau, not many miles from Paris. Here he devoted all his gifts to illustrating the life of the tillers of the soil. His subjects were drawn both from his immediate surroundings and from the recollections of his youth. "Since I have never in all my life known anything but the fields," he said, "I try to say, as best I can, what I saw and felt when I worked there." It is now a quarter of a century since the painter's life work ended, and in these years some few changes have been made in the customs and costumes which Millet's pictures represented. Such changes, however, are only outward; the real life of peasant labor is always the same. Seedtime and harvest, toil, weariness and rest, the ties of home and of religion, are subjects which never grow old fashioned. In France the farm labors are shared by men and women alike. The peasant woman is sturdily built, and her healthy out-of-door life makes her very strong. She is fitted by nature and training to work beside the men in the fields. In our first picture we see a young man and woman starting out together for the day's work. It is morning, and the early sun illumines the distant plain, where ploughing has already begun. The light falls on the two figures as they walk down the sloping hillside. They are dressed for their work in clothing which is plain and coarse, but which is perfectly suited for the purpose. The French peasants' working clothes are usually of strong homespun cloth, fashioned in the simplest way, to give the wearers entire ease in motion. They are in the dull blues, browns, and reds which delight the artist's eye. Such colors grow softer and more beautiful as they fade, so that garments of this kind are none the less attractive for being old. Ragged clothing is seldom seen among peasants. They are too thrifty and self-respecting to make an untidy appearance. [Illustration: From a carbon print by Braun, Clement & Co. John Andrew & Son, Sc. GOING TO WORK] The men wear soft felt hats, the brim of which can be pulled forward to shade the eyes. The women cover their heads neatly with caps or kerchiefs, and are nearly always seen with aprons. Men and women both wear the heavy wooden shoes called _sabots_, in which the feet suffer no pressure as from leather shoes, and are protected against the moisture of the ground. The peasants of our picture carry all they need for the day's work. A three-pronged fork rests across the man's shoulder, and a wallet of lunch hangs from his left arm. The woman has a basket, a linen sack, and a bit of rope. Evidently something is to be brought home. Just now she has swung the empty basket up over her shoulders and it covers her head like a huge sunbonnet. The two young people are full of the healthy vigor which makes work a pleasure. They go cheerfully to their day's task as if they really enjoyed it. We cannot help suspecting that they are lovers. The man carries himself erect with a conscious air of manliness, and steps briskly, with his hand thrust into his pocket. The girl hides her shyness in the shadow of the basket as she turns her face towards his. The two swing along buoyantly, keeping step as if accustomed to walking together. At the close of the day's work the basket and sack will be filled, and the laborers will return to their home by the same way. The burden may be heavy, but they will bear it as the reward of their toil. The picture of Going to Work was painted at about the same time[1] as the The Sower, which forms one of the later illustrations of our collection. A comparison of the pictures will show interesting points of resemblance between the two men striding down hill. Though Going to Work is not as a work of art of equal rank with The Sower, we get in both pictures a delightful sense of motion which makes the figures seem actually alive. [Footnote 1: That is, within a year. See dates in the _Historical Directory_.] II THE KNITTING LESSON In the picture we have been examining we have seen something of the outdoor life of the French peasants, and now we are shown the interior of one of their houses, where a Knitting Lesson is being given. The girls of the French peasantry are taught only the plainest kinds of needlework. They have to begin to make themselves useful very early in life, and knitting is a matter of special importance. In these large families many pairs of stockings are needed, and all must be homemade. This is work which the little girls can do while the mother is busy with heavier labors. The knitting work becomes a girl's constant companion, and there are few moments when her hands are idle. The little girl in our picture is still a beginner in the art, and the lesson is a very exciting occasion to her. Already she feels like a woman. The mother and daughter have their chairs by the window to get a good light on the work. It is a large and beautiful casement window, of the kind almost universal in France, opening lengthwise in the middle in two parts which swing on hinges like doors. The window seat serves as a table, to hold the basket and scissors. The doll is thrust into the corner; our little girl has "put away childish things"--at least for the moment,--and takes her task very seriously. The two chairs are drawn close together, the one a small counterpart of the other. The child braces her feet firmly on one of the rounds and bends her whole mind to her work. Both mother and daughter wear close white caps, though the little girl's is of a more childish pattern and does not cover her pretty hair in front. The mother has been sewing on some large garment which lies across her lap. She lets the little girl work by herself for a time, and then stops to set her right. Already a considerable length of stocking has been made, but this is a place where close attention is needed. Perhaps it is time to begin shaping the heel. The mother's work is left altogether for a moment. Putting her arm about the child's shoulder, she takes the two little hands in hers, and guides the fingers holding the needles. We get some idea of the quaint style of the building from this glimpse of the living-room. Probably it is a low stone cottage with thatched or tiled roof. The deep window seat shows how thick the walls are. Overhead we see the oak rafters. The room looks spotlessly clean, as a good housewife's should. Though we see only a corner, that corner holds the most precious household possession, the linen chest. It stands against the wall, and is of generous size. French country people take great pride in storing up a quantity of linen; tablecloths, sheets, shirts, pillowcases, often of their own weaving, are piled in the deep clothes-presses. In well-to-do families there are enough for six months' use, the family washing taking place only twice a year, in spring and fall, like house-cleaning in America. We judge that our housekeeper is well provided, by the pile of neatly folded sheets on the press. The little clock, high on the wall, and the vase of flowers on the chest are the only touches of ornament in the room. On the wall are some small objects which look like shuttles for weaving. [Illustration: From a carbon print by Braun, Clement & Co John Andrew & Son, Sc. THE KNITTING LESSON] As we look at the picture we feel sure that Millet was a lover of children, and it is pleasant to know that he had many of his own. The artist father was his children's favorite playmate, and at the close of his day's work in his studio, they ran to meet him with shouts of joy. He used to like to walk about the garden with them showing them the flowers. In winter time they sat together by the fire, and the father sang songs and drew pictures for the little ones. Sometimes taking a log from the wood basket he would carve a doll out of it, and paint the cheeks with vermilion. This is the sort of doll we see on the window seat in our picture. Ruskin tells us that a true artist feels like a caged bird in painting any enclosed space, unless it contains some opening like a door or window. No amount of beauty will content us, he says, if we are shut in to that alone. Our picture is a good proof of this principle. We can easily fancy how different the effect would be without the window: the room would appear almost like a prisoner's cell. As it is, the great window suggests the out-of-door world into which it opens, and gives us a sense of larger space. Our illustration is taken from a drawing. Millet was a painstaking artist who made many drawings and studies for his paintings. This is probably such a study, as there is also a painting by him of the same subject very similar to this. III THE POTATO PLANTERS In the picture called The Potato Planters we are reminded at once of the peasants we have already seen in Going to Work. We see here married people a few years older than the young people of the other picture working together in the fields. It may be that this is their own little plot of ground, for they work with a certain air of proprietorship. They look prosperous, too, and are somewhat better dressed than common laborers. It is the highest ambition of the French peasant to own a bit of land. He will make any sacrifice to get it, and possessing it, is well content. He labors with constant industry to make it yield well. The field here is at quite a distance from the village where the workers live. We can see the little group of houses on the horizon. In France the agricultural classes do not build their dwelling-houses on their farms, but live instead in village communities, with the farms in the outlying districts. The custom has many advantages. The families may help one another in various ways both by joining forces and exchanging services. They may also share in common the use of church, school, and post office. This French farming system has been adopted in Canada, while in our own country we follow the English custom of building isolated farmhouses. In working season the French farmer must go daily to his labor at a distance. The people in our picture are fortunate enough to own a donkey which is their burden-bearer between house and field. The strong little creature can carry a heavy load properly disposed in pannier baskets. The panniers are made very deep and wide, but rather flat, so as to fit the sides of the donkey. With one of these hanging on each side of the saddle, the weight of the burden is so well distributed that it is easily borne. The donkey of our picture has been relieved of his panniers, and now rests in the shade of some apple-trees. One of the baskets is in the mean time put to a novel use. Made soft and warm with a heavy cloak, it forms a nice cradle for the baby. The babies in French peasant families are often left at home with the grandmother, while the mother goes out to field work. The painter Millet himself was in childhood the special charge of his grandmother, while his mother labored on the farm. The people of our picture have another and, as it seems, a much pleasanter plan, in going to the field as a family party. [Illustration: From a carbon print by Braun, Clement & Co John Andrew & Son, Sc. THE POTATO PLANTERS] The day is well advanced and the work goes steadily on. It is potato planting, and the potato crop is of great importance to country people, second perhaps to the wheat, as it supplies food to both man and beast. The commoner varieties, as the large white, are raised for cattle, and the finer and sweeter kinds, the red and the yellow, are kept for the table. The laborer and his wife move along the field, facing each other on opposite sides of the row they are planting. The man turns the sod with his hoe, a short-handled tool which long practice has taught him to use skilfully. The wife carries the potato seed in her apron, and as her husband lifts each spadeful of earth, she throws the seed into the hole thus made. He holds the hoe suspended a moment while the seed drops in, and then replaces the earth over it. The two work in perfect unison, each following the other's motion with mechanical regularity, as they move down the field together. The two who work so well together in the field are sure to work well together in the home. The man has the serious, capable look of a provident husband. The woman looks like a good housewife. That shapely hand throwing the seed so deftly into the ground is well adapted to domestic tasks.