The Sheepshearers 1857 - 1861

Editor: So, this is Jean-François Millet's "The Sheepshearers," painted between 1857 and 1861 using oil on canvas. It feels…starkly intimate. The textures of wool and roughspun clothing really pull me in. What stands out to you in this genre painting? Curator: Ah, Millet! There’s such an earthiness to his work, isn't there? He’s like a poet of the peasant life. What I see is a profound respect for labor, for the connection to the land. Do you notice how the light falls—or rather, *doesn’t* fall? There’s no romantic sunrise, no golden hour. It’s just the honest light of a working day. Editor: Yeah, it’s very matter-of-fact. I almost feel like I’m intruding on a private moment. I was doing some research and plein-air became a feature of many landscape works but would you say that using "en plein air" to document mundane labour could be a political statement in and of itself? Curator: Precisely! It was rebellious, wasn’t it? In a time when salon painting glorified the mythological and the aristocratic, Millet chose to ennoble the everyday lives of rural folk. Think of it as a radical act of attention. Were people ready for this at the time? What did it mean for him as an artist? Editor: It’s a different way of celebrating "the greats," you know? Focusing on skill and lived reality rather than status and the old order. This changes how I see some other plein-air works. Curator: Absolutely! Millet makes you feel like you could smell the lanolin and hear the bleating. That, my friend, is powerful art. It lingers with you. Editor: Yeah, I feel like I'm ready to consider more of the symbolism within genre painting. It can carry some hefty social commentary. Curator: I wholeheartedly agree; next time, let’s unravel some more of those unspoken narratives!