A lot of painters were respected until they had died, such as Vincent Van Gogh. Jean-Francois Millet was lucky enough to be valued before he died. Jean-Francois Millet who was born in 1814 and died in1875, was a French painter, known as a founder of Barbizon school.
Being a son of peasant family in the village of Gruchy, Normandy, Millet shared sympathy to the farmers in his works, therefore, he was favored a lot by the French farmers.
The Sower
Millet learned painting from Paul Dumouchel in Cherbourg, then he moved to Paris in 1835 to study at the Ecole des Beasux Arts with Paul Delaroche. However, Millet led a hard life in Paris, especially after the death of his first wife Pauline-Virginie Ono. Some of his overline portrait painting brings him unpleasant comments. It was not long before he realized that he could not give up dreams to be a painter who can depict the hardworking farmers. So he moved to Barbizon with his second wife Catherine Lemaire and their children in 1849. The movement changed Millet's life. Millet lived in Barbizon for almost 27 years, where he worked with farmers in the morning and created paintings after noon. His works won higher and higher reputation in the 1860s. His last years were marked by financial succus and official recognition. On 20th January, 1875, he died in Babizon.
Millet’s famous paintings were generally about farmers, as he mentioned he loved farmers. The Sower, Woman Baking Bread, The Geleaners, The Angelus, The Sheepfold, The Potato Harvest are all about farming life.
