European Master Print and Drawing Reproductions: Jean-Francois Millet, French

A Shepherdess and Her Flock, c. 1862
Fine Art Reproduction
Reproduction Size: 15.5 x 11.8 inches

This reproduction is a new, individually printed and proofed, superior quality, giclee* process, fine art print.
It is printed on 100% cotton rag acid-free, heavyweight fine art paper with a luxurious textured watercolor paper finish and archival pigment inks to ensure permanence.
Created for collectors, it IS NOT A POSTER or mass produced print on low quality, inexpensive paper.

Jean-François Millet (French, 1814 – 1875) was a French printmaker, painter and draughtsman and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. Millet is noted for his scenes of peasant farmers; he can be categorized as part of the Realism art movement.

"To tell the truth, the peasant subjects suit my temperament best; for I must confess, even if you think me a socialist, that the human side of art is what touches me most...The gay side of life never shows itself to me. . . . The gayest thing I know is the calm, the silence, which is so sweet, either in the forest or in the cultivated land.”

Thus wrote Jean-François Millet. He conveyed calm and silence in this peaceful composition, which is anchored by a monumental peasant figure. A cloud has blotted out the sun, and the muted daylight conceals details while emphasizing the shepherdess, sheepdog, and flock as archetypes. The shepherdess and dog stand silhouetted against the sky and field, waiting patiently and with dignity in the timeless world of the peasant, which Millet sought to ennoble in his work.

This pastel, possibly the earliest of at least four on this theme, relates to Millet's painting of the same name. He exhibited the painting, now in Paris's Musée d'Orsay, to great acclaim at the Salon of 1864.

Original Medium: Drawing, black chalk and pastel on paper. Reproduction: Heavyweight Fine Art Paper; pigment inks
Image Size: 15.5 x 11.8 inches printed on larger 18 x 13 inch paper to allow ample borders for matting and framing

NOTE: The Da Vinci Art Prints watermark on this image is for computer viewing only and of course NOT on the actual print.

PayPal only please. Prints ship in a heavy protective cardboard tube.

**the giclee process produces a high quality, fine art reproduction from a high-resolution digital file of an image. The file is then printed with a high-resolution photo generation printer on a fine art paper. Most artists and working photographers today use the giclee process to produce reproductions of their original artwork and photographs.

As with any original art or fine art reproduction, it is recommended that prints are framed and displayed under glass to prevent color fade or shift over the years.