Léon-Augustin Lhermitte, French, 1844-1925
Title: Harvesters at Rest
Date: 1888
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
96 x 75 cm
Credit Line: Presented, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, 1950
Object Number: NGI.4255
DescriptionCorot and the Barbizon School were influences on Lhermitte's early work, as was Jules Breton. In around 1880, however, seeking to create an important work that would bring him to the attention of the Salon jury and the public, Lhermitte looked to Courbet's monumental style. In 1882, with his painting 'Harvesters' Payday', he achieved this success and from this time on he specialised in the representation of rural life.
Unlike Millet, and in the tradition of Breton, Lhermitte was committed to the idealisation of the French peasant. He regarded field labourers as heroic figures, seldom complaining and always dignified even when exhausted by their day's toil. This painting is based on a drawing made at Rue Chailly farm in the artist's native village of Mont-Saint-Père in 1886. Despite the plein air effects in the landscape, there is a strong emphasis on formal composition and academic drawing. From the beginning of the 1880s, with the increasing availability of threshing machines and other devices, rustic life was changing irrevocably, and Lhermitte knew that the activities represented in his paintings were already "retardataire".
Unlike Millet, and in the tradition of Breton, Lhermitte was committed to the idealisation of the French peasant. He regarded field labourers as heroic figures, seldom complaining and always dignified even when exhausted by their day's toil. This painting is based on a drawing made at Rue Chailly farm in the artist's native village of Mont-Saint-Père in 1886. Despite the plein air effects in the landscape, there is a strong emphasis on formal composition and academic drawing. From the beginning of the 1880s, with the increasing availability of threshing machines and other devices, rustic life was changing irrevocably, and Lhermitte knew that the activities represented in his paintings were already "retardataire".
ProvenanceBoussod Valadon et Cie., 1888; purchased, Tooth, London; M. Charbonneau, Reims, 1905; presented, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, 1950
Exhibition HistorySalon, Paris, 1888
Chester Beatty Collection, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1951
The Peasant in the French Nineteenth Century Art, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 1980
The Irish Impressionists, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; Ulster Museum, Belfast, 1984-1985
The Irish Impressionists, Irish Artists in France and Belgium, 1850-1914, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 9 October - 18 November 1984; Ulster Museum, Belfast, 1 February - 10 March 1985
La peinture Française du XIXe siècle: collection Chester Beatty de la Galerie Nationale d'Irlande, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Calais, 21 January - 27 March 1989; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper, 8 April - 5 June 1989; Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, 20 June - 4 September 1989
French 19th and 20th Century Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland: Corot to Picasso, Daimaru Museum, Tokyo, 5 September-17 September 1996; Daimaru Museum, Kyoto, 10 October-22 October 1996; Kawaguchiko Museum of Art, Yamanashi, 26 October-2 December 1996; Daimaru Museum, Umeda,Osaka, 22 January-9 February 1997; Aomori Municpal Gallery of Art, Aomori, 2 April-20 April 1997
Chester Beatty: The Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 7 September 2012 - 1 September 2013
Chester Beatty: The Paintings, Hunt Museum, Limerick, 1 February - 30 March 2014
Chester Beatty Collection, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 1951
The Peasant in the French Nineteenth Century Art, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 1980
The Irish Impressionists, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; Ulster Museum, Belfast, 1984-1985
The Irish Impressionists, Irish Artists in France and Belgium, 1850-1914, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 9 October - 18 November 1984; Ulster Museum, Belfast, 1 February - 10 March 1985
La peinture Française du XIXe siècle: collection Chester Beatty de la Galerie Nationale d'Irlande, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Calais, 21 January - 27 March 1989; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper, 8 April - 5 June 1989; Musée Sainte-Croix, Poitiers, 20 June - 4 September 1989
French 19th and 20th Century Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland: Corot to Picasso, Daimaru Museum, Tokyo, 5 September-17 September 1996; Daimaru Museum, Kyoto, 10 October-22 October 1996; Kawaguchiko Museum of Art, Yamanashi, 26 October-2 December 1996; Daimaru Museum, Umeda,Osaka, 22 January-9 February 1997; Aomori Municpal Gallery of Art, Aomori, 2 April-20 April 1997
Chester Beatty: The Paintings from the National Gallery of Ireland, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, 7 September 2012 - 1 September 2013
Chester Beatty: The Paintings, Hunt Museum, Limerick, 1 February - 30 March 2014
Label TextLhermitte based this painting on a drawing that he made near his native village of Mont-Saint-Père. Although he sketched outdoors, he preferred to paint in the studio. Lhermitte’s paintings of rural workers brought him much success. Vincent van Gogh greatly admired his work and his apparent empathy with the poor. Here, Lhermitte shows labourers at rest. The two women seem ready to resume gathering hay but reluctant to disturb their exhausted companion.