Milcendeau's House at Bois Durand

In 1905, Charles Milcendeau bought a farmstead in the heart of the Vendée marshes, near his hometown of Soullans in western France. Depicted here is his modest house with its distinctive doorway, painted to look like a pointed stone arch. The barn at right contained his studio. The brown leaves and barren trees signal that the workers could be engaged in an early spring cleanup. To make this very personal drawing, Milcendeau combined various media, including ink, watercolor, gouache, crayon, and charcoal. Today the buildings serve as a museum dedicated to the artist’s life and art.