Landscape - Hillside in Gruchy, Normandy

Landscape - Hillside in Gruchy, Normandy is a late-career drawing by Jean François Millet French, 1814-1875, executed between 1869 and 1870. Classified as a drawing, this work was created using pen and brown ink on cream laid paper. Millet, renowned primarily for his monumental oil paintings depicting peasant life and labor, maintained a prolific practice in drawing, often using the medium to rapidly capture landscape studies or preparatory sketches. This specific piece focuses on the topography near Gruchy, Millet’s birthplace in Normandy, France.

In this rendition of the Gruchy hillside, the artist employs firm, deliberate strokes of brown ink, contrasting detailed foreground elements with a more atmospheric background. The choice of pen allows Millet to emphasize the rugged contours of the terrain and the texture of the scrub brush, lending the composition a sense of immediacy and structural clarity. Although produced late in his life, this drawing reflects Millet’s enduring commitment to depicting the natural environment of his homeland with sincerity, focusing on the intimate relationship between the land and its geography, a hallmark of French realism.

The intimate scale and precise technique of the drawing underscore its importance within Millet’s oeuvre as an independent study rather than a mere preliminary work. As a foundational piece of nineteenth-century French draftsmanship, the original is held in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. While the original drawing remains preserved, high-quality digital reproductions of Millet’s works, including studies like Landscape - Hillside in Gruchy, Normandy, often enter the public domain, allowing enthusiasts access to fine art prints and reference material from this influential master.