Depicting the countryside to express the eternal bond between people and nature

Depicting the countryside to express the eternal bond between people and nature

In the late nineteenth century, the landscape dominated, both in terms of the format and the number of paintings exhibited at the Salon. A favourite subject among Realist painters, it took on new forms echoing the expectations of a changing society: as a haven of peace in which to meditate, or a source of sustenance, nature came to symbolize a form of permanence. The rural world was an illustration of the strong and immutable link binding humankind and the universe; an unassailable defence in the face of upheavals brought about by growing industrialisation. Locally, Bresse was a favourite area to explore for Johannes Son and his friend Louis-René Boulanger, who both sought to reproduce the poetry of the locations they observed. Works such as Matinée au lac de Nantua (Morning at the lake of Nantua) and En Bresse (In Bresse), exhibited in Paris at the Salon of 1896 and 1900 respectively, perfectly illustrate this idealised view of nature.

The mystical dimension attributed to the rural world is particularly evident in the works of Jean Laronze, which have clear similarities with those of Jean-François Millet: Le Soir (The Evening) shows a peasant woman at the end of a day’s work in a sculptural, contemplative posture. Exhibited in Paris in 1893, it foreshadowed the success of subsequent paintings, particularly L’Angélus (The Angelus), presented at the Salon of 1903, whose “mysterious poetry” captivated critics. With its gentle light and simple composition, which draws the attention to the figures in prayer, the painting was purchased by the State for the Musée du Luxembourg. In 1930, it was added to the collections in Mâcon thanks to the intervention of Honoré Hugrel, who was the curator at the town’s museum. An admirer of the work of Laronze, who encouraged him to exhibit at the Salon des Artistes Français, he experimented with several techniques, including pastel and tempera on cardboard, to bring out the character of farm work and life in the region of Mâconnais. His dedication to promoting the region led him to create the ‘Pays de l’Ain’ decor for the ‘Bourgogne-Franche-Comté-Pays de l’Ain’ pavilion at the 1937 World Expo, further establishing his reputation as a regionalist painter.