1814
Born 4th October at Gruchy, a coastal hamlet near Gréville la Hague,
Normandy. His parents were small landowners. He was the eldest of eight children.
1835
Drawing lessons in Cherbourg with Du Mouchel (known as Mouchel), Théophile
Langlois de Chèvreville, a pupil of Baron Antoine Jean Gros.
Death of his father.
1837
Attends the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris thanks to a scholarship
from the city of Cherbourg.
1841
Marries Pauline-Virginie Ono, daughter of a tailor.
1844
Pauline-Virginie dies on 21st April.
1845
Leaves
for Le Havre with his new companion, Catherine Lemaire.
1846
Rencontre avec Constant Troyon et Narcisse Diaz de la Pena.
Deuxmarchands de tableaux, Durand-Ruel et Des Forges, lui achètent
quelques œuvres.
Meets
Constant Troyon and Narcisse Diaz de la Pena. Two art dealers, Durand-Ruel
and Desforges purchase a few works. Birth of his first child, Marie. Eight
others are to follow : Louise (1847), Jean-François, known as François
(1849), Marguerite (1850), Emilie (1856), Charles (1857), Jeanne (1859), Georges
(1861), and Marianne (1863).
1847
Meets
Alfred Sensier, Head of the Museum department and later civil servant in the
Ministry
of the Interior, Sensier is to become his mentor, his agent and his biographer.
Millet frequents Republican circles but his attitude towards the February
revolution is unknown.
1848
Ledru-Rollin,
Minister of the Interior, mayor of Paris, purchases the Winnower.
1849
Together
with Charles Jacque he flees to Barbizon away from political turbulence,
the high cost of living and cholera.
1850
Exhibits the Sower at the Salon.
1851
Death of his grandmother.
1853
Civil
marriage to Catherine Lemaire. Meets American painters from Boston
(in particular W.M. Hunt who buys the Harvesters).
1854
Millet breaks off his relationship with Charles Jacque.
1855
A Peasant grafting a Tree is put on show in the Universal Exhibition.
1857
Works on the Angelus and the Gleaners.
1859
Finishes
the Angelus, a commissioned work he had left unfinished at his atelier.
1860
Delivered
of his debts, Millet starts work on a series of countryside and personal
subjects.
He combines his atelier techniques, his taste for mythological scenes
and the powerful images of his childhood.
1863
"The
Man with a Hoe". Millet authorizes the reproduction and diffusion of
this picture on postcards. After several successes at the Salon he obtains
a commission for a series :
the Four Seasons. Being now relatively well off he is able to buy collectors’
pieces,
mediaeval sculptures, Delacroix drawings, Rembrandt engravings,
Japanese prints and daguerreotypes.
1865
Emile Gavet commissions some pastels. Millet produces that year 90 pastels and drawings.
1866
Journey
to Vichy. He returns via Clermont and the Mont-Dore;
he falls in love with the landscapes.
1867
Success
at the Universal Exhibition. Death of Théodore Rousseau.
New trip to Auvergne.
1868
14th August, he is made a Knight of the Légion d’Honneur.
1869
Trip
to Alsace and Switzerland. He produces – inter alia – "The
Knitting Lesson".
The Museum of Marseilles purchases "The Gruel".
1870
Returns to Cherbourg where he stays 16 months.
1871
In
November he returns to Barbizon. "Feeding the Nestlings" ("La
Becquée" )
is bought by
the museum of Lille.
1872
Millet’s rating climbs thanks to the pressure of dealers. The Angelus sells for 38,000 gold Francs. Artists – painters, sculptors and engravers – make up 30 per cent of the population of Barbizon.
1873
First
signs of great physical fatigue. Migraine - no doubt brought on by the use
of turpentine -
and sciatica leave him no respite.
1875
Marries in church on 3rd January and dies on 20th at the age of 61. He is
buried
next to Théodore Rousseau in the cemetery of Chailly-en-Bière.
