Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-06-20
MrLLEr,s BIRTHPLACE FOR SALE.
Interesting "Reminiscences Of the
Great Paints.
Courier des Etats UnA.)

The home and birthplace OF j. F. Mil
let the famous painter Of the "Angelus,"
IS about TO be sold. It Is called Gruchy.
1t is a poor but picturesque little hamlet.
surrounded by orchards. Many OF the
buildings are in ruins. The old people
are nearly all dead and the young, for
tho most part, have left for the city.
There remain, in fact. only the old and
very young. just as If the place were in
a state of siege. All the able-bodied have
gone TO the front to fight in the battle OF
life.
Close by the shores are washed by the
sea. In the village the old people, seated
at the doors, seem to be in a dream. They
look as If they belonged TO another age.
Millets brother is still alive. At Gre
Vile he keeps an inn, where pilgrim
painters hang up little panels just as
they do at Barbizon. "Gruchy Is becom-
ing depopulated," he said one day. "The
young people have gone to Paris to seek
their fortunes. but many of them have
been enlisted at Chcrbourg."
This accounts for the lonely appearance
Of the place. The ruins are already CO.
vered with ivy. AS l said. the aspect is
extremely picturesque. and in more than
one corner of Gruchy we can recognize
subjects OF Millets work. There is the
old stone well with its pointed roof, the
Wondering door of the stable, and the
greenish stone stairway a very short
road separates into two rows the six or
seven little houses of the hamlet, and
pathway leads To the seashore. In the
angle stands n little house with a sign
board with this inscription painted in
white letters: Here FRANCOIS Millet was
born October 4, 1Sli."
1t Is inhabited by his sister, n strong.
ruddy-faced peasant woman, who still
has an amiable smile under her Norman
cap. 1t is understanding habtation,
with long patched roof pierced by
large stone chimney. The entire build
ing, consisting Of a ground floor sur
mounted by granary, IS overrun by a
vine. Near the stable stands the well,
with it's little round turret and pointed
roof and an opening about waist high,
consisting Of bay, through which the
dripping buckets are passed. The old
people never suspected while going there
for water, as little Mllet watched them
with his hands in the pockets OF his tat
tered trousers, that the image of that
well would be scrambled for a coups de
dollars on the other side Of the ocean.
Millet worked there as a farm hand
until he was 20 years old. In the summer
days. after the threshing hours. instead
of going 10 sleep. like the others at noon,
he observed. He felt In himself the
growing genius of the painter. With the
point Of his knife he cut In the door OF
the granary n fancy sketch of lot OF
devils with forks chasing she devil. He
was then u years old The sketch was
-s..f... Of nj fir of
execution. on the other door he carved
n vessel with all sails set. Later on he
painted upon the house proper a pot of
flowers.
In this way, working I'm the fields and
observing the beauties Of nature, Millet
nassed his boyhood. Later on he studied
the effects of light in the evening,
and noted IL I'm the sketch books with
which his pockets were stuffed. lie Went
among the peasants. watched the groups
| of cleaners, the dogs minding the sheep.
and the harvcsters. He endeavored espe-
| cially TO seize the effects of the twilight,
which he observed with smoked glasses.
persuaded as he was that painting could
never give the true coloration, and could
only give their equivalents In more
sombre gamut.
Milet IS still we'll remembered In all
| the country of Cherbourg. The natives
remember his tall stature, his fine head
and careless aspect. and his solid and
striking personality. In the opinion of
his family, the best likeness of him is
the water color by LalauZe. IL repre-
sents him such as he was when he revir
sited the country with his friend Theo-
phile Sylvestre, in 1870, and when he was
arrested. charged with being a Prussian
spy taking sketches.
At q years Millet astonished Pop Mou-
chel. Of Cherbourg, by q drawing that he
had made in the granary before he hac
received any lessons. Old man Mouche
said to MHlets father: you will b'
damned for having kept him so long. HI
IS made of the stuff of which great ar
fists are formed" This sketch still ex
lists. 1t is a marvel. From that time for
ward Millet worked at Cherbourg. He
painted n boa coiled around palm tree
for a druggist, and sketched a horse fo
th9 sign Of a blacksmith. Its presen
owner got it in exchange for q tobacco
box. One day Millet made display pic
tire for a Hercules a Snowman Of the
fairs. who gave him for IT IL cents and ;
free ticket to the show. Everybody know
how he got the money TO go to Paris
where he was bound to meet with man,
vexatiOns The page that he wrote o
his arrival in the great city Is one o
the most astonishing for its emotion, III
melancholy. and its foresight
1t was at Barbizon that he was des
tined to pass the remainder Of his life, II
that house whose present proprietor re
fuses TO allow anybody to enter. ignoring
the ordinary courtesy that Is always dis
PLAYED by the possessors OF historical
treasures. In BarbiZon Millet Otter
thought OF Gruchy, its fields, its granary
and its hamlet, where he lived unknown
in peace and solitude. instead OF bein'
torn by the thorns along the road lead
ing TO fortune. Even glory was doled GU
stingily 20 that Michael Angelo OF I'M
LEO CIARL,TIE.