Jean François MilletFrench, 1814–1875Return from the Fields
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
Cleveland, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
This idealized vision of noble peasant life was painted during a period of intense industrialization in France, accompanied by economic depression and the abandonment of farms. Nostalgic peasant scenes were especially popular in the 1840s, a stark contrast to the disillusionment and tension that would violently surface in the Revolution of 1848. The vague shapes and faces of the family seen here make them symbols of the land, rather than individuals.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1972.19
In the catalog
Sources
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art — Museum open access
Meanwhile, in the life of Jean François Millet
The whole lifeApril 1844
The death of his wife Pauline from consumption
After marrying Pauline-Virginie Ono in 1841 he moved with her to Paris; after rejections at the Salon of 1843 and Pauline’s death by consumption in April 1844, Millet returned again to Cherbourg.
1845
Meeting Catherine Lemaire and her portrait
In Cherbourg he met Catherine Lemaire, a former maidservant, and painted her portrait in 1845; she later bore him nine children.
mid-1840s
Friends in Paris: Rousseau, Daumier, Sensier
In Paris in the middle 1840s Millet befriended Constant Troyon, Narcisse Diaz, Charles Jacque and Théodore Rousseau, artists later associated with the Barbizon school; Honoré Daumier, whose figure draftsmanship influenced his rendering of peasant subjects; and Alfred Sensier, a government bureaucrat who became a lifelong supporter and eventually his biographer.
1847
First Salon success: “Oedipus Taken Down from the Tree”
In 1847 his first Salon success came with the exhibition of the painting “Oedipus Taken Down from the Tree”.
1848
The government buys “The Winnower”
In 1848 his “Winnower” was bought by the government.
June 1849
The move to Barbizon
In June 1849 Millet settled in Barbizon with Catherine and their children.
