Jean-Francois Millet Varies Greatly in His Subject Matter

Millet’s style is similar in many of his paintings and drawings. For example, you can see that the same artist painted The Shepherd and His Flock as drew The Sower. However, his subject matter changes drastically. Much of his art does contain people, but the atmosphere of the scenes and pictures varies greatly. For example, his painting Haystacks: Autumn is a field with grass, a flock of sheep, their shepherd, and three large haystacks in the background; but his print Digger has a black background with a man in overalls digging. While both of these involve people doing outside work, which is lower class work, the general sense of the two artworks is vastly different. While Haystacks has a calm picture of a pasture with sheep, Digger is filled with activity. In the print there is the obvious action, the person who is actually digging, but there is also an energetic sense in the area surrounding the man, Millet has put scribbles of white and black in this area. These seemingly random scribbles evoke feelings of energy in the viewer. An artist can have a style of creating, while varying greatly in subject matter and ambience, this is demonstrated in Millet’s broad spectrum of interest and emotions.

Jean-Francois Millet, Shepherd and His Flock, late 19th century

Pastel on papier bleuté, 10 x 12 1/4 in. (25.4 x 31.1 cm)

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Here Millet uses what appears to be the same field and town as in his Haystacks: Autumn painting, though it seems to be winter instead of autumn here. It has a very scratchy style to the texture, there are several black marks throughout it, except in the sky, which can cause the viewer to feel uncomfortable. In contrast to the painting, the shepherd is in the foreground instead of behind the flock of sheep. The shepherd here seems to be deep in thought, he is leaning on his staff and staring into space.

Jean-Francois Millet, Digger, 1863

Woodcut on laid paper; second (final) state; posthumous edition,  block: 4 1/8 x 5 1/2 in. (10.5 x 14 cm)

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The print, Digger, is incredibly dramatized in this version. The original version is quite simply a man digging with a white background. Here, however, Millet has made the background almost entirely black with several scratch marks and scribbles scattered throughout. This can give the viewer a sense of shock and confusion. These aspects also cause an aura of mystery or morbidity, is this man digging up a grave or an artifact?

Jean-Francois Millet, Haystacks: Autumn, ca. 1874

Oil on canvas, 33 1/2 x 43 3/8 in. (85.1 x 110.2 cm)

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Haystacks: Autumn as a very peaceful painting, its brushstrokes are smoothed over and colors are largely pastel in shade. Millet’s subject is a flock of sheep whose shepherd is standing next to a haystack in the background. This peacefulness is, however, counteracted slightly by the dark clouds overhead, they may be storm clouds or simply dark clouds. The style of the painting is somewhat loose, and the three large haystacks, for example, seem to melt into the sky behind in places.

Jean-Francois Millet, Digger, !863

Woodcut in brown ink on laid paper; second (final) state; posthumous impression, block: 5 1/2 x 4 1/8 in. (14 x 10.5 cm)

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The man pictured in this print, appears to be digging a post hole or some other mundane task. It is a very active scene, and he has thrown his hat on the ground to better be able to work. The piece itself is very simple with plain white paper and brown ink, which helps put the emphasis on the activity of the man. While another version of the Digger depicts the same man, the ink in it is black and the background is filled with scribbles giving it a chaotic atmosphere.

Jean-Francois Millet, The Sower, 1851

Lithograph on thin laid paper; second (final) state; 1879 or later; posthumous impression, image: 7 5/8 x 5 1/4 in. (19.4 x 13.3 cm)

sheet: 11 x 7 7/8 in. (27.9 x 20 cm)

frame: 21 x 16 in. (53.3 cm)

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    This print is very loose in style. Overall, the picture is calm and gives the impression of an average day. The focus is on manual labor with a sower in the foreground and a man plowing in the background. This scene can be viewed as cheerful, but could also bring to mind a sense of tiredness that comes at the end of a long day of work. Millet’s marks here portray this print as unfinished, though that seems to be intentional.