MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON, PRESENTS 'MILLET AND RURAL FRANCE'

JEAN-FRANCOIS MILLET'S DEPICTION OF THE ARRESTING BEAUTY OF THE NATURAL WORLD IN THE SUBJECT OF 'MILLET AND RURAL FRANCE', AN EXHIBITION AT THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON (MFA), THAT INVITES VISITORS TO REDISCOVER ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ARTIST'S OF THE 19th CENTURY. ON VIEW 4.SEPTEMBER THROUGH 30.MAY.2011, IN THE MFA's MARY STAMAS GALLERY, THE EXHIBITION PRESENTS 46 WORKS, MANY OF WHICH HAVE RARELY BEEN SEEN IN THE PAST QUARTER CENTURY, THE MAJORITY OF WHICH ARE MAJOR PASTELS AND DRAWINGS, ALONG WITH LIVELY WATERCOLOURS, SENSITIVELY HANDLED ETCHINGS, AND A POWERFUL WOODCUT. ALL ARE DRAWN FROM THE MUSEUM'S RENOWNED MILLET COLLECTION, ONE OF THE FINEST IN THE WORLD. 'MILLET AND RURAL FRANCE' OFFERS AN INTIMATE VIEW OF THE WORK OF JEAN-FRANCOIS MILLET, WHOSE IMAGES OF AGRICULTURAL LIFE ARE AMONG THE MOST RECOGNIZED AND BELOVED IN THE HISTORY OF ART. THE EXHIBITION PREDOMINANTLY FEATURES WORKS ON PAPER AND SHOWCASES MILLET'S ENGAGING SCENES OF RURAL FRANCE, PRIMARILY NEAR BARBIZON, FOR WHICH HE IS BEST KNOWN. IT HIGHLIGHTS THE ARTIST'S DRAFTSMANSHIP AND TECHNICAL SKILLS, IN PARTICULAR, USE OF LIGHT AND COLOUR, PRECURSORS TO IMPRESSIONISM. MANY OF THE WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION HAVE NOT BEEN ON VIEW SINCE THE MUSEUM PRESENTED ITS MAJOR MILLET EXHIBITION IN 1994, 'JEAN-FRANCOIS MILLET: SEEDS OF IMPRESSIONISM', WHICH DREW FROM THE MFA's COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST'S WORK GIVEN TO THE MUSEUM BY SEVERAL PROMINENT BOSTONIANS. THE PAINTER WILLIAM MORRIS HUNT; THE MFA's FIRST PRESIDENT, MARTIN BRIMMER; AND THE ENTREPRENEUR QUINCY ADAMS SHAW WERE THREE EARLY COLLECTORS OF MILLET WHO RECOGNIZED IN HIS POWERFUL IMAGES THAT HE WOULD BECOME ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ARTISTS OF THE 19th CENTURY. THE MUSEUM IS NOW THE LARGEST REPOSITORY OUTSIDE OF FRANCE OF WORKS BY MILLET, WITH ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST'S PASTELS IN THE WORLD.
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