Jean-François Millet (1814-1875) wanted to paint a woman and a man shearing a sheep.
He started by sketching the scene in pencil on tone paper. The man who is holding the sheep is in the shadow of a tree, while the woman is in light.
He developed the idea into a color study. The woman wears a red skirt, a white apron, and a blue top. The man is still mostly in shadow, though now he's under a rustic awning instead of a tree.
Millet adapted the idea to a larger composition. Now there are three spots of light: her cap, her right arm, and the sheep.
Van Gogh made a copy of Millet's painting, changing a lot of things. He unified the color of her outfit, lightened all the colors and focused more on the blue/yellow dynamic. The forms are outlined with dark, short, bent lines.
John Singer Sargent was interested in Millet's composition, and he made a sketch in pencil. Is it a copy of the Van Gogh or the Millet? To my eye, it seems closer to the Millet, but I'm not sure.
It does to me too,James!( This is Lynnwood,not unknown :)
ReplyDeleteAnd Van Gogh's copy seems more like it was after the color study...from the cant of the woman's figure?
ReplyDeleteLynnwood
I think I must have a warped sense of good art, because my favorite is the original pencil sketch.
ReplyDeleteThat's not warped...it was a close call for me too, Lynnwood :)
ReplyDeleteJust based on the compositional details and framing, particularly top left-hand side, roof-top and the pillar, I would say it is related to the Van Gogh version.
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