Griselda Pollock is a visual theorist, cultural analyst and scholar of international, postcolonial feminist studies in the visual arts. Based in England, she is well known for her theoretical and methodological innovation, combined with readings of historical and contemporary art, film and cultural theory. She is professor of social and critical histories of art at the University of Leeds.
Jean-François Millet was known even during his own lifetime as the greatest 'peasant painter' of the nineteenth century. He grew up in a farming family himself and learned to read Latin and modern Literature from the village priest, when he wasn't working on the family farm himself. But, it was in the farming community of Barbizon where he began to paint the peasants as a young man, a subject few were interested in at that time.
It is for his evocation of peasant consciousness that he is remembered. His work can be said to be a dialog in form. Perhaps his most famous work, 'The Angelus', is a dialogue without words in and of itself. 'The Sower' (on the book cover) is not only iconic but rivetingly majestic. His scenes of the night sky are lovely, 'The Shooting Stars' for one. Another, 'Starry Night predates van Gogh's Starry Night. Of course, they are quite different works. While van Gogh's Starry Night of tea cup and fridge magnet level popularity today is a Dutch Post Impressionist work, Millet was a Realist.
Rather than the skies, its the landscapes he focused on more and more, landscapes with small peasants. 'The Return from the Fields' is a haunting night family scene that by itself could summarize all his paintings (if not 'The Angelus'), but when compared to 'The Cherished Child' by Jean-Honore Fragonard and Marguerite Gerard the dialogue effect is intensified. Go ahead, Google those two images and have a look. I'll wait.
A few other notable and splendid paintings you might look for include: 'After a Day's Work' 1865, 'Falling Leaves' 1866-67, 'Spring', 1868-73, and 'The Birdnesters with Torches', 1874. I know, his paintings improved greatly over time. I recommend this book from the public library for anyone interested in art. Of course, like many older books, it is available free in digital format on Internet Archive instantly. It's nice having the paintings in book format though.