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Jean-François Millet
French, 1814–1875
Young Girl Guarding her Sheep
c. 1860–62
This is one of Millet’s many paintings of shepherdesses, a type of figure he would have seen often near his home in the village of Barbizon, at the edge of the forest of Fontainebleau. The girl has brought her knitting to help pass the long hours, leaving the task of watching over the flock to her dog. Her industrious concentration, her centrality to the composition, and the sunny, pastoral setting suggest her harmonious coexistence with nature.
Image Caption
Jean-François Millet, Young Girl Guarding her Sheep, c. 1860–62, oil on panel. Clark Art Institute, 1955.532
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
15 x 10 13/16 in. (38.1 x 27.5 cm)
Frame: 21 3/4 x 17 3/4 x 2 3/8 in. (55.2 x 45.1 x 6 cm)
Object Number
1955.532
Acquisition
Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status
On View
Select Bibliography
Shinn, Earl. The Art Treasures of America. Edited by Earl Shinn. Philadelphia: George Barrie, 1879-80. . Catalogue of the William H. Vanderbilt Collection of Paintings. New York: DeVinne Press. 1886. Jean François Millet: Masters in Art Series. Boston: Bates and Guild. 1900. Louis Souillié.. Peintures, Aquarelles, Pastels, Dessins de Jean-François Millet Relevés dans les Catalogues de Ventes de 1849 à 1900.. Paris: Librairie Spéciale des Catalogues de Ventes Annotés.. 1900.. Netta Peacock.. Millet.. London. 1905.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Five: French Paintings of the 19th Century. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1956. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1963. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Grand Palais, Paris.. Jean-François Millet. Oct. 17, 1975-Jan. 5, 1976; Arts Council of Great Britain, Hayward Gallery, London, Jan. 22-March 20, 1976. Cat. by Robert Herbert. Sturges, Hollister. Jules Breton and the French Rural Tradition. Exhibition catalogue. Omaha: Joslyn Art Museum, 1982. Cass, David B. and Michael M. Floss. Alexandre Gabriel Decamps, 1803-1860. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996. Anonymous. "Nineteenth-Century Painting and Sculpture." The Magazine Antiques 152 (October 1997): 522–31. Conrads, Margaret C. ed. The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: American paintings to 1945. Kansas City, Mo.: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. 2007. Ganz, James A. and Richard R. Brettell. Great French Paintings from the Clark: Barbizon through Impressionism. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications; Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2011. Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012.
Provenance
Comte Edmond Blanc (until 1862, his sale, Drouot, Paris, 7 Apr. 1862, no. 33, as Jeune fille gardant ses moutons); Paul Tesse; William H. Vanderbilt, New York (by 1879–d. 1885); George Washington Vanderbilt, his son, by descent (1885–d. 1914);¹ Cornelius Vanderbilt III, his nephew, by descent (1914–d. 1942); Grace Wilson Vanderbilt, his wife, by descent (1942–45, her sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, 18 Apr. 1945, no. 129, ill., as Shepherdess: Plains of Barbizon, sold to Knoedler); [Knoedler, New York, sold to Clark, 20 Apr. 1945, as Shepherdess: Plains of Barbizon]; Robert Sterling Clark (1945–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.
1. George Washington Vanderbilt placed this and a number of other works on long-term loan at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1886. The works were returned to his nephew in 1919.