The Little Goose Girl of Mézy is Léon Lhermitte’s most important single-figure painting, a work that forthrightly declares its modernity in the directness of the young goose girl’s interaction with the viewer and in the slashing knife and brushwork that so tangibly conveys the stubbled grain field on which she stands…With her small bundle of grain, Lhermitte underlined her industriousness, indicating that this goose girl has been doing double-duty, gathering up stalks of wheat missed by the departed reapers as well as watching her feathered charges. Although her tattered apron may suggest poverty, the plump geese and massive grain stack incorporate her into a prosperous farm; and she looks out at the observer with a quizzical nonchalance that bespeaks settled confidence, not victimhood. In such circumstances, the shredded garment seems to be merely protective field wear, a well-worn hand-me-down.
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Leon-Augustin Lhermitte At Sunnyside
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~Sunnyside
At Sunnyside - Where Truth and Beauty Meet 
Beautiful!
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😎🌻🙏
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I agree with the descripti
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😎🌻🙏
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Beautiful portrait!
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Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts, Alexander. 😊
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Love the painting! Peace, LaMon
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Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts, LaMon. 😊
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“Although her tattered apron may suggest poverty… the shredded garment seems to be merely protective field wear, a well-worn hand-me-down.” A wise reading, indeed. There’s a reason I buy the bulk of my clothing for working on the docks at local thrift stores: it’s easier to throw away varnish-covered shirts and tees.
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The timeless virtue of practicality! 😎
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Quizzical nonchalance? More like the sullenness of habitual abuse…
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She does look sullen, almost like she is challenging the viewer. I do hope she is just tired and ready for lunch…but my mind can easily read another story, too.
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We’ll go with tired and ready for lunch. As in: “You need me to stand here for HOW much longer,now?” 🤣
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lolol….you nailed it! 😎
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