About The Artist - Jean Francois
Millet (October 4, 1814 - January 20, 1875) |
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Jean-François Millet was a French painter and belong
to the art movement referred to as "Naturalism." |
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About
The Painting - The Angelus |
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Known for painting
scenes from rural France depicting peasants and commoners,
Millet is famous for his painting titled: The Angelus.
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This painting
was commissioned by a wealth American citizen, Thomas
G. Appleton, and Millet completed it in the summer of
1857. However, the Mr. Appleton failed to take the painting
and in 1859 Millet added a steeple and changed the title
of the painting to Prayer for the Potato Crop to The
Angelus. The Angelus was exhibited for the public for
the very first time in 1865. |
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Millet died a
decade later and some years later the painting was sold
for a whopping 800,000 gold francs! |
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Frequently reproduced
in the 19th and 20th centuries, The Angelus has also
fascinated famous surrealists like Salvador Dali who
was prompted to write an analysis of this painting,
The Tragic Myth of The Angelus of Millet. Dali believed
that the couple in the painting was praying over the
dead body of their buried child, rather than to the
Angelus. X-ray of the canvas, later confirmed Dali's
suspicions while exposing that The Angelus contains
a geometric shape that bear significant resemble to
a coffin but painted-over by Millet. |
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Jean-Francois
Millet naturalistic approach to tranquil and pastoral
scenes and portraits indicates his political leanings,
which also left the French government paranoid as they
assumed that he was sending political and socialist
messages through his works. From 1849, Millet retreated
to Barbizon School and began painting landscapes and
poetic scenes. |
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In The Angelus,
Millet has used freer brushstrokes and a lighter palette,
depicting with mastery the turmoil, helplessness and
anguish of the man and the woman who are fervently wishing
for a good crop (or praying for their dead child). |
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The social implications
of this and many other paintings by Millet inspired
artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Seurat. Today,
the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has an extensive display
of many of Millet's paintings and pastels - in which
he excelled! |
