Julien Dupré

The Hay Harvesters represents Julien Duprè at his best.  The figures are engaged in the strenuous work of haying, the back-breaking gathering up of the harvest they have reaped by hand with scythes. Though they and the swirling hay are all in motion, the figures feel suspended, captured by the artist’s desire to savor this joyous moment, his subjects at one with the life-cycle of the land.  The hay rains down in delicate golden shafts, and the light glints off of the young women’s faces and headscarves, setting off their beauty. A cow at center looks at the viewer with open friendliness, and the men are a blur of handsome strength in motion.  The artist, trained by Desiré-François Laugèe and Henri Lehmann, took to heart his teachers’ emphasis on strong draftsmanship. He was also an eager colorist; his skill is evident in the patchy blue and grey sky, and the far-off gleaming band of yellow and green at the horizon line.  A scene soon to vanish due to France’s move toward industrialization, The Hay Harvesters  conveys the very essence of pastoral beauty and rural life.