Jules Bastien- Lepage Biography

born Nov. 18, 1848, Damvillers, France
died Dec. 10, 1884, Paris
French painter of rustic outdoor genre scenes widely imitated in France and England.

  Bastien-Lepage studied under Alexandre Cabanel, first exhibited his paintings at the Paris Salon of 1870, and won a medal at the Salon of 1874 for “Spring Song,” which stylistically owes a little to Édouard Manet. “The Hayfield” (1878; Louvre, Paris) follows in the tradition of Jean-François Millet and reveals the sentimental element that characterizes Bastien-Lepage’s paintings. “Joan of Arc Listening to the Voices” (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City), which represents Joan as a Lorraine peasant, typifies his subject paintings. He was also a portraitist of note.