The drawing, executed in pencil on 19th century chalk paper, depicts a portrait of a farmer on a field, holding a sickle in his right hand.
Authorship : the drawing is from the French School, attributed to Jean-François Millet. Our drawing is related in style and subject to other simular drawings by Millet, such as "Scetch of a moving farmer".
JEAN-FRANCOIS MILLET (La Hague 1814 - Barbizon 1875) : Painter, draughtsman of the French Barbizon School. Born to modestly successful Norman peasants, Millet began studying
art in Cherbourg at eighteen . In 1837 he received funding to study at
the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. After ten years of mixed success
while he supported himself with portraits, "The Winnower"
appeared at the Salon of 1848 and was the first of his peasant pictures
to sell. In 1849 he moved to Barbizon in Fontainebleau forest, where he
lived for the rest of his life, mostly in grim poverty. There he painted
his most famous works, including "The Man with a Hoe".
Millet portrayed the gravity, hardship, and dignity of common
agricultural laborers, but, despite being labeled a "Socialist
revolutionary", his viewpoint was less political than fatalistic. Between 1865 and 1869, he produced over one hundred pastels, considered
among his finest works. After decades of struggle, he was awarded a
medal at the 1867 Exposition Universelle and received the Légion
d'Honneur in 1868. Millet's humanity toward peasant life deeply
impressed many painters, including Vincent Van Gogh.
Size : 28x19,4cm.