French painter. Millet (October 4, 1814 - January 20, 1875) was a realist painter and one of the founders of the Barbizon School of France, a Romantic movement in art. In 1833, ne moved to Cherbourg to study painting and begin his career as a professional portrait painter. Millet’s popularity grew throughout the 1860’s, and he received many commissions, hosting a major showing of his work in 1867 in the Exposition Universeille. The next year, he was named an officer of the National Legion of Honor, and in 1870 he was elected as a jury member at the Paris Salon. Millet became known for his realistic conveyance of peasant life.

In 1875, three weeks before his death, Millet married his wife in a religious ceremony. They had been married in a civil ceremony in 1853. After he died, he left his wife and nine children destitute, spurring the invention of the droit de suite innovation, which allowed a certain portion of the sale or resale of an artist’s work to go to the artist’s heirs.

Millet’s legacy influenced many artists including van Gogh, Monet, Seurat, and Dali, as well as writers such as Mark Twain, among others.