Le Berger/The Shepherd

 

Here we have "Le Berger" by Julien Dupré (1851 - 1910), a French realist painter.   He was last seen in these pages here. 

While Dupré was better known for his herculean French peasant women pitching hay and for his paintings of country scenes with cattle, he did from time to time turn his attentions to scenes with flocks of sheep.

The image of a shepherd or shepherdess with a flock of sheep and a sheepdog is one of my favorite motifs, and Dupré's "Le Berger" stands out amongst the many I have seen.

(click for bigness)

In the distance we see sandy dunes and lowering skies, while sheep graze calmly in the middle ground.  In the forground is the back of the shepherd, with his dog at his side.  Overall, the colors are uniformly washed out greens, tans, and greys--except for the shepherd, the dog, and the one black sheep in the flock (who appears to have locked eyes with the dog).  The three of them are depicted shades of dark brown and black.

I like how the shepherd and the dog reflect each other.  Both are rather scruffy and worn around the edges.  You can even see just a bit of a brushy moustache on the shepherd's lip that looks like the dog's coat. They must have been working together as a team for a long time to so resemble each other, don't you think?

 

Comments

[cyndy]

I so enjoy your writings and the images that you find to write about.

Wonderful...and bucolic!

[Ann]

Thank you. I have soooooo missed your postings.