Art Blogging: Julien Dupré

Julien Dupré (1851-1910) was a French Naturalist painter. Naturalism was the part of the Realism movement which focused on the natural world. Dupré was a noted painter of peasant women with livestock. Such was a common theme of the day. But unlike his contemporaries, Dupré’s peasant women were not merely studio models tossed into a rural backdrop.

Dupré’s women were prototypes for Rosie the Riveter. In an age when Neoclassicism portrayed women as either refined, delicate ladies in a salon or sensuous nymphs, Dupré lifted up the peasant woman as a symbol of strength, determination, and independence. Dupré's women were idealized, but not fetishized.


The Haymaker at the Rehs Galleries is exemplary. This woman is dressed practically and intent on completing her work. Her muscular body moves with confidence and power.




The Wheatfield (1882). A man and woman work, side by side, at the same task. There is an implied gender equality in this painting. The woman is not objectified as a pretty thing to be placed on a pedestal. She is humanized and valued for more than just physical beauty.