Interview

Amory, Dita. "The Barbizon School: French Painters of Nature". In  Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.


  Cartwright , Julia. Jean Froncois Millet : His Life and Letters. 1st ed. New York , 1902 . Print.
 
 France, 1800–1900 A.D. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=10®ion=euwf (October 2004)

"The Harvesters Resting ." Millet and Rural France” opens at the MFA. Web. 27 Feb 2011.

  "Jean-François MILLET . De Gruchy à Barbizon." http://www.atelier-millet.fr/. Atelier Jean-François MILLET, 8 6 2006. Web. 24 Feb 2011

 Laine , Jim . "The French Academy." Humanities Web. N.p., 4 November 1997. Web. 27 Feb 2011. 

 Leveque, Jean- Jacques . Millet,s Univers . 1st. New York: Henri Screpel , 1975. Print.

Murphy , Alexandreia . Jean -Franois Millet. !st ed. . New York: 1999. Print. Interview With Jean- Francois Millet

 Kight , Kevin . "Jean Fronois Millet ." World Catholic ENCYCLOPEDIA en, 2009. Web.

 

 Ramsy, Mattew. "Cholera in Post-Revolutionary Paris: A Cultural History.." The free Libary by farlex. Journal of Social History, 1997. Web. 24 Feb 2011.

 Ress, See. "Hippolyte Delaroche - Definition." Word IQ (1995): n. pag. Web. 27 Feb 2011.

 Wallace , Natasha. " Ecole des Beaux-Arts ." http://jssgallery.org/. jssgallery, 01/07/2010. Web. 24 Feb 2011.






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 Conducted by KCC1 ( DMVC)

  Q1.  What events in your childhood inspired you to want to become an artist?    
           My adoration for drawing came to me slowly as a child. One of my inspirations for drawing was my family’s illustrated Holy Bible (Lévesque, 1975). I used to love to page through it when I had time. Most of the time, I would study the faces and hand gestures of the figures and I would ponder what each character was thinking. Perhaps it was at that point that I started to look past symbolism and try to uncover people’s true emotions simply by looking at their orientation and expressions ( Kight ,2009 ).
.
       Many days, after I was done helping around the house, I would draw small sketches on almost any material with a piece of charcoal or chalk (website 1) I would draw in a relaxed position,   letting the beauty of the world stream through my eyes, letting it travel down through the muscles of my arm down my hand into my finger and in the chalk; Until finally I captured the image on the paper (Lévesque, 1975). 

 Q2 : Could you tell me about any notable teachers , or mentors that impacted you as a developing young artist ?
        The most notable mentor to me as a child was my father. He encouraged me and supported me in a very direct and loving way. My father taught me the virtues of living  and of humble fulfilling labor (Murphy,1999).  My father was also the first member of my family to take notice for my gift for drawing and my potential (Atelier Jean-François MILLET, 2006).  He encouraged me and supported me with a steady flow of cheap paper and crayons and charcoal. 
  The most memorable teacher would definitely be old Delaroche.  He was what you’d call now a Romanticist (Ress , 1995 ). He taught me the workings of the French Academy and the fact that  it governed the exhibitions of the salons. I occasionally won praise in his class but more often I was mocked.  Through that deplorable environment, I refined my drawing skills to a whole new level ( Lévesque, 1975).

 Q 3:  Describe for me if you will what the French art scene was like when you entered it?
       Paris was still recovering from the upheaval of the last century.   Neoclassical style was still a huge rage throughout Paris. The aristocracy migrated from their country estates and moved into the metropolis of Paris, where they fueled a huge demand for neoclassical heroic history paintings.  A new movement at the time was also starting to make a lot of commotion, Romanticism (Wallace, 2010).
      The Academy was the largest conglomerate body in France. It governed every action an artist could make. Despite its meager beginnings, it had grown over the years from simply an advisory and regulatory artistic committee to a massive Magisterium of all French culture. The French Academy preserved the status quo of French culture from "corruption" by rejecting Bohemian or deviant tendencies among their students (France, 2007 ). The Academy set the standards under the supervision of a select group of member artists, who were deemed worthy by their peers and the State. The Academy determined what was good art, bad art, and even dangerous art (Murphy, 1999).    




Q4: What kind of economic, political, and social change was occurring that affected your work?
    The culture of France was based on the new social pyramid and the resentment of the industrialist by the old aristocracy. The rest of the industrialized world was ruled by the factory owners, the bosses, and the land lords. They were the people that had all the money in France and with it the power to sway public opinion (France , 2007 ).
 The industrialists, drunk with prestige and power, turned a blind eye to the suffering of their own people. Not only were the people of France exploited, but the very air, soil, and water were exploited as well.  (Amory, 2011 ) The peasants and rural poor were being forced off their land and into the cities. The industrialization of farming made many peasants farms obsolete.  This only added to the plight and misery of the workers’ conditions in the cities, I wanted to show this in my work.      
      There was also a new, yet very steadily growing, movement that was sweeping across Europe at the time; Socialism. Supposedly the government of France was extremely afraid of socialism and had been cracking down heavily on many known socialists and socialists’ newspapers. I must confess, even if you think me a socialist, that the human side of life is what touches me the most. (Murphy,1999). Hundreds of thousands of once farming peasants were migrating in to the cities’ massive slums that were growing throughout France. Yet another bloody revolution spread through France, caused by class conflict (Amory, 2011).
Q5: What do you consider to be you greatest work, and what unique approached did you make to create such an amazing piece?
  Well my favorite work I’ve made would have to be “The Harvester Resting”. I worked so painstakingly long on that painting. I drew all the figures in the nude first; I then experimented with each of the figures drawing them multiple times over again and testing with different orientations and positions of arms and legs, even the details of hands and feet. I killed myself going days without sleep, obsessing over the folds and type of clothing on my figures (The Harvesters Resting , 2011).
     I want the viewer to be forced to confront the reality of French peasant life!    (Murphy,1999) I want the viewer to be able to draw a connection between the present social problems and the biblical story of Ruth and Boaz. (Murphy ,1999) To make sure my point was clear, that Ruth was an outsider, I structured the arms of the older kinsmen to be drawing her( Ruth )  formally and confidently into the present community .I made it clear that she was welcomed. This helped the viewer make a visual connection by linking her symbolically to the community. 
Q: 6. What opportunities did you have that you would consider a major turning point in your life and art?
         The biggest opportunity I’ve had, would have to be the Pixi De Rome. The Academy promoted the award as the pinnacle aspiration that all young French artists should aspire to win it was considered the highest honor for a young artist in France ( Kight ,2009 ). The scholarship allowed for an artist that the French Academy seemed fit, to attend classes in Rome and study the “art gods” masterpieces in person. At the time I was extremely enthusiastic about the prospects of traveling to Italy, and having the opportunity to attend Sunday mass at St. Peters Basilica!

   But in the end, the Academy judged that my work did not meet their expectations. I was completely devastated by the news of the Academy’s deliberation on my work! (Lévesque,1975) Yet, I was not really surprised by their decision. The Academy always seemed to pick the artists with some sort of personal connection ,  from a wealthy family, or artistic style that was heavily in line with the Academy’s( Laine , 1997 ). In the months that followed the competition I, for the first time in my life, felt like my future career as an artist was in jeopardy (Cartwright, 1902)! 
Q7: What choice’s did you make in your personal life that ended up making you more of a successful artist?
          Being that I was no friend of the Revolution and a recent cholera epidemic was spreading throughout Paris, Catherine and I quickly packed our bags, bundled the children up, and headed for the village of Barbizon. (Ramsy, 1997)  We left when I heard from one of my close friends that a large group of non-academic artists and poets were fleeing the cesspool powder keg of Paris (Amory, 2011 ).
 Seeking refuge at my family home in Gruchy was unthinkable!  I dread to be admitting this to you but , I never actually sent them a letter about Cathy, or told them that we had gotten married , a nonreligious wedding, at that.( Leveque’s 1975)  And Dear God, that blessed woman will kill me for this, but she was my mistress years before we were married! ( Murphy,1999)   So we decided on moving to Barbizon, where I was finally free of the Academy and personal embarrassment,   to paint what I wanted to .
Q8: What held you back as a developing artist and how did you over come these problems?    
      Well as I said earlier, my failed attempted at winning the Pixi de Rome culminating with the termination of my scholarship soon after, left me completely disoriented in a way I had never felt before. I was almost sure that my career in the art world was doomed! ( Murphy, 1999)   I became extremely disgruntled, anxious, and embarrassed! I thought to myself, “god, who is going to commission an artist like me?”  The hardest limitations I have had to deal with usually are my own self doubt.   I’m always second guessing myself. I strive to create the out side as it really is. My constant strive to keep these two parts of my personality my certainty in my art and uncertainty in life , has been my worst short coming but one of my advantages in the long run. Allowing me to have a deeper understanding of the emotional stresses that weigh down the lives of the peasants I paint (Lévesque ,1975).      
  Q9: What kind of prejudices or limitations did you experience as artists?
          Because I apparently have what the Parisians call a very thick Norman accent, most people immediately assume that I am a farmer!  Even when I say Latin phrase , they sill think I’m a mere peasant (Lévesque ,1975) !  From personal experience, I’ve seen what the city folk are like to farmers, country men, or even other metropolitan French citizens that are from Lyon or Marseilles! Even someone like myself, who has a slight accent is immediately swept under there rug of a conversation, and treated like an idiot!
    This incredibly unjust prejudice and discrimination is so proliferate that it even affects the opinion  of the French Academy ! You would not believe what the instructors would say behind my back about other students that were from the “wrong quarter” of Paris                   ( Murphy, 1999). I still don’t under stand why perfectly respectable, intelligent, literate French citizens would be so corrosive and bitter to their fellow French man or woman. What ever did my grandparents fight for in the Revolution?  Liberty, equality, and fraternity ; Parisians are always stuck in their own little world ! 

     Q10: Could you give me any short memorable stories that well   illiterates your expressions as artists?  
      In my own arrogance I believed Paris would be the heart of culture, the museum of the world, an artists’ playground! I can still remember the last gift of advice from my grandmother as I walked out the door and began my journey to Paris “Remember the virtues of your ancestors” (Cartwright, 1902). I thought many times as I was walking on the narrow gravel road that leads from Normandy to Paris, of my mother and grandmother.  It gave me a pang to think of them left weak and failing at home. But their hearts were full a of motherly love to allow me to give up my profession.
    I spent my first night (in Paris) in one continual nightmare. I saw my grandmother, mother, and sister, sitting there spinning ,weeping, and thinking of me, and praying that I might escape from the perdition of Paris . Then the old demon appeared again, and showed me a vision of magnificent pictures so beautiful and dazzling. They seemed to glow with heavenly splendor. These premonitions were an omen of my future greatness (Cartwright, 1902)!

Judging

Differences

Similarities

Interview With Jean- Francois Millet

Conducted by KCC1 ( DMVC)

  Q1.  What events in your childhood inspired you to want to become an artist?    

           My adoration for drawing came to me slowly as a child. One of my inspirations for drawing was my family’s illustrated Holy Bible (Lévesque 1975).  . I used to love to page through it when I had time. Most of the time, I would study the faces and hand gestures of the figures and I would ponder what each character was thinking. Perhaps it was at that point that I started to look past symbolism and try to uncover people’s true emotions simply by looking at their orientation and expressions.

       Many days, after I was done helping around the house, I would draw small sketches on almost any material with a piece of charcoal or chalk (website 1) I would draw in a  relaxed position,   letting the beauty of the world stream through my eyes, letting it travel down through the muscles of my arm down my hand into my finger and in the chalk; Until finally I captured the image on the paper. (Lévesque 1975). 

 Q2 : Could you tell me about any notable teachers , or mentors that impacted you as a developing young artist ?

        The most notable mentor to me as a child was my father. He encouraged me and supported me in a very direct and loving way. My father taught me the virtues of living  and of humble fulfilling labor (Murphy1999).  My father was also the first member of my family to take notice for my gift for drawing and my potential (website11) .  He encouraged me and supported me with a steady flow of cheap paper and crayons and charcoal. 

  The most memorable teacher would definitely be old Delaroche.  He was what you’d call now a Romanticist.( word I website) He taught me the workings of the French Academy and the fact that  it governed the exhibitions of the salons. I occasionally won praise in his class but more often I was mocked.  Through that deplorable environment, I refined my drawing skills to a whole new level ( Lévesque’s975).

 Q 3:  Describe for me if you will what the French art scene was like when you entered it?

       Paris was still recovering from the upheaval of the last century.   Neoclassical style was still a huge rage throughout Paris. The aristocracy migrated from their country estates and moved into the metropolis of Paris, where they fueled a huge demand for neoclassical heroic history paintings.  A new movement at the time was also starting to make a lot of commotion, Romanticism. 

      The Academy was the largest conglomerate body in France. It governed every action an artist could make. Despite its meager beginnings, it had grown over the years from simply an advisory and regulatory artistic committee to a massive Magisterium of all French culture.   The French Academy preserved the status quo of French culture from "corruption" by rejecting Bohemian or deviant tendencies among their students (John Singer Sargent)

Virtual Gallery) The Academy set the standards under the supervision of a select group of member artists, who were deemed worthy by their peers and the State. The Academy determined what was good art, bad art, and even dangerous art!   . 

Q4: What kind of economic, political, and social change was occurring that affected your work?

    The culture of France was based on the new social pyramid and the resentment of the industrialist by the old aristocracy. The rest of the industrialized world was ruled by the factory owners, the bosses, and the land lords. They were the people that had all the money in France and with it the power to sway public opinion. The industrialists, drunk with prestige and power, turned a blind eye to the suffering of their own people. Not only were the people of France exploited, but the very air, soil, and water were exploited as well.  (Metropolitan timeline) The peasants and rural poor were being forced off their land and into the cities. The industrialization of farming made many peasants farms obsolete.  This only added to the plight and misery of the workers’ conditions in the cities, I wanted to show this in my work.      

      There was also a new, yet very steadily growing, movement that was sweeping across Europe at the time; Socialism. Supposedly the government of France was extremely afraid of socialism and had been cracking down heavily on many known socialists and socialists’ newspapers. I must confess, even if you think me a socialist, that the human side of life is what touches me the most. (Murphy, 1999). Hundreds of thousands of once farming peasants were migrating in to the cities’ massive slums that were growing throughout France. Yet another bloody revolution spread through France, caused by class conflict.

Q5: What do you consider to be you greatest work, and what unique approached did you make to create such an amazing piece?

  Well my favorite work I’ve made would have to be “Harvester Resting”. I worked so painstakingly long on that painting. I drew all the figures in the nude first; I then experimented with each of the figures drawing them multiple times over again and testing with different orientations and positions of arms and legs, even the details of hands and feet. I killed myself going days without sleep, obsessing over the folds and type of clothing on my figures. 

     I want the viewer to be forced to confront the reality of French peasant life!    (Murphy,1999) I want the viewer to be able to draw a connection between the present social problems and the biblical story of Ruth and Boaz. (Murphy 1999) To make sure my point was clear, that Ruth was an outsider, I structured the arms of the older kinsmen to be drawing her( Ruth )  formally and confidently into the present community .I made it clear that she was welcomed. This helped the viewer make a visual connection by linking her symbolically to the community. 

Q: 6. What opportunities did you have that you would consider a major turning point in your life and art?

         The biggest opportunity I’ve had, would have to be the Pixi De Rome. The Academy promoted the award as the pinnacle aspiration that all young French artists should aspire to win. It was considered the highest honor for a young artist in France. The scholarship allowed for an artist that the French Academy seemed fit, to attend classes in Rome and study the “art gods” masterpieces in person. At the time I was extremely enthusiastic about the prospects of traveling to Italy, and having the opportunity to attend Sunday mass at St. Peters Basilica!

   But in the end, the Academy judged that my work did not meet their expectations. I was completely devastated by the news of the Academy’s deliberation on my work! (Lévesque’s,1975) Yet, I was not really surprised by their decision. The Academy always seemed to pick the artists with some sort of personal connection ,  from a wealthy family, or artistic style that was heavily in line with the Academy’s.( Website) In the months that followed the competition I, for the first time in my life, felt like my future career as an artist was in jeopardy! 

Q7: What choice’s did you make in your personal life that ended up making you more of a successful artist?

          Being that I was no friend of the Revolution and a recent cholera epidemic was spreading throughout Paris, Catherine and I quickly packed our bags, bundled the children up, and headed for the village of Barbizon. We left when I heard from one of my close friends that a large group of non-academic artists and poets were fleeing the cesspool powder keg of Paris. (Murphy, 1999)

 Seeking refuge at my family home in Gruchy was unthinkable!  I dread to be admitting this to you but , I never actually sent them a letter about Cathy, or told them that we had gotten married , a nonreligious wedding, at that.( Leveque’s 1975)  And Dear God, that blessed woman will kill me for this, but she was my mistress years before we were married! ( Murphy 1999)   So we decided on moving to Barbizon, where I was finally free of the Academy and personal embarrassment,   to paint what I wanted to .

Q8: What held you back as a developing artist and how did you over come these problems?    

      Well as I said earlier, my failed attempted at winning the Pixi de Rome culminating with the termination of my scholarship soon after, left me completely disoriented in a way I had never felt before. I was almost sure that my career in the art world was doomed! ( Murphy 1999)   I became extremely disgruntled, anxious, and embarrassed! I thought to myself, “god, who is going to commission an artist like me?”  The hardest limitations I have had to deal with usually are my own self doubt.   I’m always second guessing myself. I strive to create the out side as it really is. My constant strive to keep these two parts of my personality my certainty in my art and uncertainty in life , has been my worst short coming but one of my advantages in the long run. Allowing me to have a deeper understanding of the emotional stresses that weigh down the lives of the peasants I paint.      

  Q9: What kind of prejudices or limitations did you experience as artists?

          Because I apparently have what the Parisians call a very thick Norman accent, most people immediately assume that I am a farmer!  Even when I say Latin phrase , they sill think I’m a mere peasant!  From personal experience, I’ve seen what the city folk are like to farmers, country men, or even other metropolitan French citizens that are from Lyon or Marseilles! Even someone like myself, who has a slight accent is immediately swept under there rug of a conversation, and treated like an idiot!

    This incredibly unjust prejudice and discrimination is so proliferate that it even affects the opinion  of the French Academy ! You would not believe what the instructors would say behind my back about other students that were from the “wrong quarter” of Paris.   I still don’t under stand why perfectly respectable, intelligent, literate French citizens would be so corrosive and bitter to their fellow French man or woman. What ever did my grandparents fight for in the Revolution?  Liberty, equality, and fraternity ; Parisians are always stuck in their own little world ! 

?  

     Q10: Could you give me any short memorable stories that well   illiterates your expressions as artists?  

      In my own arrogance I believed Paris would be the heart of culture, the museum of the world, an artists’ playground! I can still remember the last gift of advice from my grandmother as I walked out the door and began my journey to Paris “Remember the virtues of your ancestors”. I thought many times as I was walking on the narrow gravel road that leads from Normandy to Paris, of my mother and grandmother.  It gave me a pang to think of them left weak and failing at home. But their hearts were full a of motherly love to allow me to give up my profession.

    I spent my first night (in Paris) in one continual nightmare. I saw my grandmother, mother, and sister, sitting there spinning ,weeping, and thinking of me, and praying that I might escape from the perdition of Paris . Then the old demon appeared again, and showed me a vision of magnificent pictures so beautiful and dazzling. They seemed to glow with heavenly splendor. These premonitions were an omen of my future greatness.

ECOLE DE BARBIZON

 "ECOLE DE BARBIZON ." Web. 25 Mar 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foAKxi0ryd4.
 
A truly beautiful video!  Showing the locations of my work shop and others  of Barbizon .

Barbizon

 "Barbizon ." Web. 25 Mar 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OMT0NPTORE.

 Great video , amazing soundtrack! It also includes many fine example of my own work and that of my fellow Barbizon arts ! But as for the information , well its all Greek to me , I can read Vrigil but not Greek !