Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-08-09
WHERE MILLET W ASBORN
His Eighteen Years in a Far-0ff Nor
man Village.
Influence the Place had on His Art-The
House and the Room Yisited-The
Present Occupant.
New York Times.

there that he painted his master pieces;
there that he died. And yet there Is
another village in France far less known,
but perhaps of equal Importance to any
student of the peasant painters career.
Just as Raphael, though he worked in
Rome, is forever associated with Urbino;
just as Titan, though he painted for long
years in Venice, is scarcely to be nameu
without a mention of Galore; so the
artist who in our time has acquired a
fame as wide, perhaps, as any artist OF
this century though he painted at Bar
bizon, was a native of Gruchy, Nor
man village, and by the life and atmos-
phere of that distant corner of France
was manly inspired to the memorable
work he was able to achieve.
This fact in the life of Millet has
called out in the Pail Mall Gazette an
interesting article descriptive of the
birthplace Of Millet and It's influence on
Millet IS art The writer finds it a ecu
rious thing, and one which shows how
strongly MilIet remained saturated with
the impressions of his childhood, that
painting as he did IN his home by the
forest of Fontainebleau, far from his
native Normandy, he always had before
his eyes the people of his birthplace. Even
to such little local details as the form
of a basket and the shape of pitch
fork Mllet' S peasants belong not to
Barbizon, but to Gruchy. The hamlet
of Gruchy lies almost at the extremity
of the neck of land which juts out into
the Channel at the northwest corner OF
Normandy. 1t is the Land S End
of France. To reach Gruchy we
IN, nThn
we must take to the road, for the rail-
way runs no further. A broad, level,
high road winds westward along the coast
few hundred yards from the sea be-
tween apple orchards and green meadows
full of sleek Normandy cattle lazily
chewing the long lush grass. Rounding
the rocky headland of Castel Vendor, or,
as it is called by the country people, lie,
Grand Cate - we scramble up a Zigzag
path which, after a little, widens intassa
lane. A few hundred yards more of stiff
climbing and we reach the first houses 81
Gruchy. 1t is a mere hamlet of tw1i
struggling streets. Millet' s home is not,
difficult to find It is the last of row Of
| four houses, built like all the houses OF
| this countryside, of irregular uphewn
gray stone and matched with straw
| Over the door is the inscription, lei est
ne lie Peintre Jean-Francois Miliet lie
| Octobre. 1914 On the threshold stands
the present occupant, sister-in-laW
of J . F. Millet's, a rOsY-cheeked, blue
| eyed dame. the picture of cleanliness III
her high white Golf and short homespuns
! petticoat.
ssWith that genial courtesy which is
one of the characteristics of the Norman
| peasantry, Nine. Millet makes. us well
! 10 LARGE
! low room with a wooden ceiling supported
on stout rafters, foored with beaten
clay, lighted by good sized window IN
! front and little one at the back. The
main feature is a gigantic ffre-p place, SUCH
| as one finds in the kitchens of all the
| cottages of this countryside. For furni-
ture. a dresser, a cupboard in the wall,
a wooden settle, deep window seat, and
a table. All just as it was in his day,
Sir, all except the table, which is new,
and the planks in the ceiling which my
poor husband put in new when he re-
! DaIred the house. There is a huskness
| in the old DANES voice and there are
tears in her blue eyes as she speaks of
her husband for within year she has
lost both her husband and her only son
'All lust as it was when Francois was q
lad even to the ivy, and she points to
the green trails of ivy which half vel the
little window at. the back, for when
Francois sold his share of the house to
the brother he made it condition that
the ivy was not TO be touched.
'sThen we 90 upstairs and see the room
in which the painter was born, and in an
adjoining one some souvenirs of him-a
couple Of etchings, an early drawing
| from the antique, panel with a bunch
of flowers painted On it, a photograph of
| the sheep fold In the corner of this
room door, now walled up, once COM
municafed with the adjoining house 4,
which formed part of the home of the
| Millet family. This family was a large
one. Jean Francois Millet was the eld-
est of nine children, one of whom died IN
infancy The father, too, died cOmpaT-
atively young, but the old grandmother
who lived with them brought the inmates
up to twelve. So the huge fireplace in
the kitchen was none too big for the
family circle which gathered round it in
the winter evenings. Often this circle
would widen to make room for some poor
creatures, for an open handed
I patriarchal hospitality was a character
| istic of the Millet family. Sometimes
there would be as many as FIVE or six
Fs1galfs ana stTays, to whom the best places
| at the hearth were assigned, Win leave
! to pass the night in the warm kitchen.
I f'Just in front of the Millets house is
quaint old stone covered well. Close
| by is the washing place, or douet, as 1t
is termed in Norman parlance, where
the good wives of the hamlet belabor
their linen on smooth, round stones 8.
| Here and there a new house has sprung
up since Millet's day. Here and there
an old one, abandoned by its owners,
stands roofiess, half buried under briars
and thick, clustering ivy. Save for a
few old women, flock of geese and in
Vulnerable fowls, the place seems de-
serted, for it is daytime and every one is
out at work in the fields.
s'Here in this secluded little hamlet
within sight and-in stormy weather.
within sound of the sea, Millet passed the
first eighteen years of his life-the open
air, active life of a well-to-do peasant.
His favorlte employments were saving
and moving, or, when the opportunity
presented itself, helping the stonemason
to build or repair house. On Sundays
or holidays ne, with other lads Of
Crt..8