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Jean-François Millet was a French painter, born in the rural village of Gruchy in Normandy, France. Millet is best known for painting scenes of peasant workers and helping to found the Barbizon school.

Millet began his education by studying under village priests, who tutored him in Latin and modern literature. In 1833 Millet moved to Cherbourg to study painting with the portrait artist, Paul Dumouchel. Millet proved to be a talented artist and continued to study under various painters. By 1837, Millet’s instructors funded his move to Paris, enabling him to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Millet exhibited in the 1840 Salon in Paris before returning to Cherbourg to continue working as a portrait painter.

After a series of emotional setbacks in Cherbourg and Paris, Millet married Catherine Lemaire and settled in the rural village of Le Havre, an ideal setting for Millet’s genre paintings. By 1949 Millet began to receive recognition for his work, exhibiting in the Salon and completing a state commission. Millet and his wife decided to move to Barbizon, where he eventually helped to establish the widely known, Barbizon school. During this time period Millet painted two of his masterpieces, “Angelus” and “The Gleaners”. Both paintings have become internationally known images, often used to promote worker rights and labor movements. Throughout the late 1800s, Millet’s career and reputation continued to grow. Wealthy patrons commissioned Millet to complete a large number of oils and pastels.

Millet was chosen to exhibit three paintings in the Exposition Universelle, including “The Gleaners”, “Angelus” and “Potato Planters”.

Millet is known as a master painter and has inspired generations of artists from Vincent Van Gogh to Georges Seurat. Millet’s images are frequently reproduced and used for commercial purposes in present day culture.

Millet’s paintings are now in major collections across the globe, including the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Currently there are known to be around 700 paintings and 3,000 works on paper by Jean-Francois Millet. Do you think you may own a painting or a work by Millet? Our researchers can help you find out. Contact us. We are the Jean-François Millet experts.