Jean François MilletFrench, 1814–1875The Two Cows
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “The Two Cows” now? Collection: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1944.46
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — CC0
In the life of Jean François Millet
The whole life1845
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.
1849
“Shepherdess Sitting at the Edge of the Forest”
At the Salon of 1849 he exhibited “Shepherdess Sitting at the Edge of the Forest”, a very small oil painting that marked a turning away from earlier idealised pastoral subjects in favour of a more realistic and personal approach.
June 1849
The move to Barbizon
In June 1849 Millet settled in Barbizon with Catherine and their children.
