Millet, Jean-François (1814-1875)
Paysan avec brouette (Peasant with a Wheelbarrow)
1848–1852
Oil on canvas, 37.8 x 45.4 cm
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis
Millet was a leading member of the Barbizon School of painters, which rose to prominence around 1850. Often working directly from nature, these artists devoted themselves to painting landscapes in the vicinity of the village of Barbizon and the forest of Fontainebleau, where Millet moved in 1849.
Millet often depicted scenes of peasants at work, and his knowledge of classical art helped him to create dignified, idealized images of laborers in the French countryside. With his simple farm tools and clothing, the peasant pushing his cart becomes a timeless symbol of a rapidly disappearing rural way of life. (IMA)