Realism in France

Peasants and Labor

Millet, Bonheur and the painters of rural France, 1849–1884

After the Revolution of 1848, peasants and farm work became a major subject. Some painters gave farm labor dignity and grandeur; others showed its toll, and were accused of politics or ugliness.

• Millet's sower, gleaners, angelus, hoe and rake
• Rosa Bonheur's working animals
• Breton's and Bastien-Lepage's later naturalism

Works in this part

• The Sower
• The Gleaners
• The Angelus
• Man with a Hoe
• Woman with a Rake
• Ploughing in the Nivernais
• The Horse Fair
• The Song of the Lark
• Haymaking
• Joan of Arc

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain