=Questions to arouse interest.= What do you find most interesting about
the oxen in this picture? In what direction are they going? How many
oxen are hitched to a plow? How are they harnessed? Have you ever seen
oxen yoked in this way? Why don’t we use oxen now? What time of the year
is it? time of day? How can you tell? What seems most important in the
picture? What can you see in the distance?
=Original Picture=: Louvre Gallery, Paris, France.
=Artist=: Constant Troyon (trwä yôn´).
=Birthplace=: Sèvres, France.
=Dates=: Born, 1810; died, 1865.
=The story of the picture.= Constant Troyon delights in showing groups
of animals coming toward us. No matter where we stand, they seem to be
coming to meet us. We can almost hear the heavy tread of these oxen as
they plod along over the uneven ground, their great heads held by the
yokes.
We see so few oxen now, it makes us wonder why they were used so much in
those days, but we know men did not then have the machinery for tilling
the ground and sowing and planting grain that we now have. It is true
they did have horses, but oxen are stronger, slower, and more steady and
patient. If the ground is rough, hilly, or full of stumps, a horse
becomes restless and is not easy to guide; but the oxen may be depended
upon to go on steadily, obeying the commands of the driver. Then, too,
oxen were much cheaper than horses, making it possible for more people
to own them.
It was with oxen that our own country was developed. They did all the
hauling of logs, and the heavy work that must be done in clearing up a
new, uncultivated region. They do not require harness other than the
yoke by which they pull their load, and are guided by the words “Gee,”
meaning turn to the right, and “Haw,” turn to the left. However, the
driver in our picture would not use these words, for he is French and
would speak in his own language. He guides his oxen with a goad or pole
which he shakes or uses as a prod to hurry them along. They accept their
fate with quiet resignation, even a sort of indifference, and are very
gentle. It is unusual for them to run away, unless frightened or angry.
In spite of the fact that these oxen are all coming toward us, no two
are in the same position. We are made to see them with all their
characteristic curves and angles.
It must be very early in the morning, for the sun is scarcely up above
the horizon, and we can see the morning mist rising from the earth. The
smoking field, with its deep furrows, gives us the feeling of a gradual
ascent. It is very interesting to notice the shape of the long shadows
cast in front of the oxen. Half close your eyes as you look, and you
will find that they form a pattern or design, and that the variety in
size and shape of both the shadows and the ground space has been
carefully studied.
Mr. Troyon has told us these oxen are on the way to their work. We are
left to decide what that work may be. No doubt they will soon reach the
field, where they will be harnessed to plows, and their day’s work will
begin. In the distance we can see fields, orchards, and, at the left,
another peasant starting out with his teams of oxen.
The picture gives a pleasant feeling of vast, roomy space all around us.
There is a feeling of energy and action, too, for the man and his oxen
are on the way to their work. Our interest is centered on the oxen first
of all, then on the man and the landscape. With the sun at their backs
so early in the morning, we readily determine that they are going west.
At the close of day they will again travel over this same road, perhaps
with even more energy, although tired, for they will be going home to be
fed and to rest. They probably take their noonday meal and rest near the
field where they labor.
Notice the knees of the oxen. We know at once they are walking, and as
we look at them we almost find ourselves stepping to one side that they
may pass.
Troyon has put into this picture the peace and contentment which come
only to those whose day starts out sturdily toward the accomplishment of
a share in the work of the world.
=Questions to help the pupil understand the picture.= How many oxen are
coming toward us? How many are in the same position? How are they
driven? Upon what kind of ground are they walking? What country is
represented? Why did the people use oxen so much in those days? When
were oxen used in our country? Why are they seldom used now? How are
oxen harnessed? Where are these oxen going? What kind of work will they
probably do? What makes you think it must be early in the morning? that
they are climbing a low hill? In what direction are they going? How can
we determine this? What can we tell by the position of their knees? Why
has the artist left so much sky and land space all around them? How is
one man able to control all these oxen?
=The story of the artist.= Constant Troyon’s father and grandfather were
porcelain decorators in the little village of Sèvres, France. They lived
near the porcelain factory at Sèvres, and so much of Constant Troyon’s
life was spent in this factory that it is said he practically grew up
within its walls.
When Troyon was only seven years old his father died, leaving his mother
with two small sons to bring up. It was necessary for her to do
something to support them. Living among painters and hearing so much of
design, color, and decorations, she naturally thought of doing something
along that line. After much experimenting she succeeded in making
designs for brooches, rings, bracelets, lockets, pins, and other
ornaments. These designs were unique, for they were made of birds’
feathers. They were exquisite in color and sold readily, especially to
visiting foreigners, English and American. Through the success of these
bird-feather designs, she was able to bring up and educate her two sons.
As soon as the boys were old enough they worked in the porcelain
factory. Here Troyon received his first training in art. His great
natural talent could not long content itself with merely decorating
china, and soon he began to cover large canvases with his wonderful
paintings from nature.
From this time on, he spent every spare moment out in the fields and
woods. All the inspiration, opportunity, and joy in work which so many
feel they must go so far from home to find, Troyon found here in his
home town and neighboring woods. He painted the first thing he came
across,—trees such as we see everywhere; paths, streams, and fields such
as we pass every day; but there is a charm in his paintings which makes
them very popular now as it did then. He did not need the columns,
monuments, heroes, gods, or nymphs of the past. He preferred to paint
truthful representations of the beauties of the present.
In personal appearance, Troyon has been described as being coarse and
rather rough. Yet his cheery good nature and kind heart won him friends
wherever he went. Painting, to him, was a diversion, a pleasure to be
indulged in only after work at the factory was finished. Since he did
not have to depend on his painting for a living, he did not need to
consider either the pleasure of others in his work or the money his
pictures might bring. So he painted just the things that appealed to
him, regardless of public favor. Indeed, he did not care to exhibit his
paintings at all and did so only to please a friend who persisted in
urging him. Troyon was quite overcome by the praise his pictures
received and the popularity they brought him.
Troyon remained in the porcelain factory until he was twenty-one years
old, then he began to travel the country as an artist. He painted
landscapes as long as he had money in his pocket, then he made friends
with the nearest china manufacturer and worked steadily at his trade
until he had money enough to go on.
In the factory Troyon continued working out the small detailed designs
suitable for china, but in the open field he paid little attention to
details, his chief interest centering in the composition as a whole. At
first he had found it difficult to paint large masses, and often the
general effect of his landscapes was lost in the confusing details of
parts of it. But one day as he was painting near the edge of a woods, a
well-known painter of that day, Camille Roqueplan, came and stood behind
his easel watching him. The older artist recognized at once the talent
of the young man and while praising him for the truthfulness of his
sketch, gave him valuable suggestions which Troyon never forgot.
Although the artist Roqueplan was eight years older than Troyon, the two
became close friends. Troyon studied under Roqueplan and it was through
his influence that he made his first visit to The Hague. It was after
this visit that Troyon began to paint animals and from that day dates
his best work. Later he visited his artist friend in Paris and at length
moved to Paris himself.
In 1849 Troyon was presented with the Cross of the Legion of Honor. His
pictures were very popular indeed and during his lifetime he became a
very rich man.
People usually speak of him as a painter of cattle, but he painted quite
as many pictures of sheep and dogs.
His early training as a designer is noticeable in this picture. He is
famous for his strong colorings, variety, and effects in light and
shade.
Some of his best known paintings are: “Great Oak,” “Forest Depths,”
“Horse Pond,” “Valley of the Toucque” or “Heights of Suresnes.”
=Questions about the artist.= Who painted this picture? What was his
trade? How old was he when his father died? What did his mother do to
earn a living? When did Troyon learn to decorate porcelain? How did his
trade help him when he began to paint pictures? Who taught him to paint
and draw? Where did he go to paint? What subjects did he usually choose?
Why was he so independent of popular favor? What was his success?
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