Millet's Early Life Living as a Peasant
Millet photographed by Nadar
In 1814 Jean-Francois Millet was born in a small village in northern France named Gruchy.
Throughout his early life, he worked the land with his father and great-uncle. Millet sowed soil, cared for animals and did the general work of a farmhand.
His father died when Millet was young, just as he was about to start his art career. He learned to appreciate the sacrifices his father made in his life to support his family through the labor of the peasantry. This helped cultivate his appreciation for the peasant class's labor. He saw peasant labor as taking skill and effort to produce what was necessary to support a family and survive.
Millet's career revolved around depicting the struggle of the peasantry. This meant "depicting the rural work" of the peasantry through portrayals of the "natural world." This is characteristic of the Realist tradition in France at this time.
Throughout his life, Millet maintained the idea that he merely "painted what he saw." This is an appeal to naturalism that he would continue to bring up as his art was critiqued.
Autumn Landscape with a Flock of Turkeys is a clear example of Millet's realism. The scene is simple and natural, showing a simple everyday moment in the life of the peasant woman as she stands in the field tending to turkeys.
References
Herbert, Robert L. “Millet Revisited - I.” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 104, no. 712, 1962, pp. 294–305. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/873713.
Murphy, Alexandra et al. Jean-François Millet: Drawn into the Light. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1999.