Ploughing in the Nivernais [SEP] creator
Ploughing in the Nivernais
Ploughing in the Nivernais (), also known as Oxen ploughing in Nevers or Plowing in Nivernais, is an 1849 painting by French artist Rosa Bonheur. It depicts two teams of oxen ploughing the land, and expresses deep commitment to the land; it may have been inspired by the opening scene of George Sand's 1846 novel "La Mare au Diable". Commissioned by the government and winner of a First Medal at the Salon in 1849, today it is held in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris
acquaintance with the artist. George du Maurier's 1894 novel "Trilby" mentions such a scene, of people copying "Ploughing in the Nivernais" and other works in the Luxembourg. It is one of the paintings singled out by Margaret Addison on her European tour in 1900, though philosopher Frédéric Paulhan in "L'Esthétique du paysage" (1913) was less impressed; Paulhan argued that good art simplifies, and that "Ploughing in the Nivernais" does not do so, spoiling it with the execution of the clods of earth