Barbizon artists had no agreed-upon style, but were revolutionary because of their commitment to portraying nature as a worthwhile subject in its own right rather than something that was so remote that it could only be expressed through romanticized and sublime images. Online Source: Millet shifted the focus and the subject matter from the rich and prominent to those at the bottom of the social ladders. Gay joined the West Campton artists' colony in New Hampshire in the late s, and had been depicting the White Mountains there for most of that decade. In other words, nature was a worthwhile subject in its own right rather than something vague, romanticized and sublime. But nevertheless, to me it is true humanity and great poetry. Inness was especially influential because of the popularity of his paintings, which viewers perceived as being skillfully executed, poetic, and mood-conveying landscapes.
And for the first time in paintings by reputable artists, working peasants were depicted, a subject that was also startling because it was a turn from gentle subjects that opened the door to the 20 th Century movement of Social Realism.
Unlike many of their French counterparts, however, they did not emphasize the hardship of work on the farm, preferring to present their New England subjects in a romantic vision of rural labor. Views Read Edit View history. Eaton and Hunt lived near Millet at Barbizon.
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