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Jean-François Millet
French, 1814–1875
Peasant Girl Returning from the Well
c. 1860
Millet often depicted women at work in rural settings, both indoors and outdoors. Here, a girl carries two water buckets that she has filled at the well in the background. Her features are generalized and her clothing is plain, while the setting is broadly defined with soft brushstrokes. These elements emphasize the timeless nature of her work, a necessary daily chore in the mid-nineteenth century and for generations before.
Image Caption
Jean-François Millet, Peasant Girl Returning from the Well, c. 1860, oil on panel. Clark Art Institute, 1955.551
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
10 3/8 x 7 5/16 in. (26.4 x 18.5 cm)
Frame: 16 1/4 x 13 1/8 x 2 in. (41.3 x 33.3 x 5.1 cm)
Original dimensions: 10 x 6 13/16 in. (25.4 x 17.3 cm)
Object Number
1955.551
Acquisition
Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status
Off View
Select Bibliography
Sensier, Alfred. La Vie et l'oeuvre de Jean François Millet. Paris: A. Quantin. 1881. 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.. 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. Robert Herbert.. Jean François Millet (exh.cat.).. London: Hayward Gallery.. Jan. 22-March 7, 1976.. 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. A Passion for Renoir: Sterling and Francine Clark Collect, 19161951. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1996 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
Saulnier;¹ Laurent-Richard, Paris (until 1878, his sale, Drouot, Paris, 23 May 1878, no. 54, as Paysanne venant de puiser de l’eau, sold to Brame; [Brame, Paris, from 1878]; possibly Paul Tesse;² Ernest Secrétan, Paris (until 1889, his sale, Galerie Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris, 1 July 1889, no. 64, ill., as Le Retour de la fontaine, sold to Arnold); Arnold (from 1889); Alfred Corning Clark, New York and Cooperstown (d. 1896); Elizabeth Scriven Clark, his wife, by descent (1896–d. 1909); Robert Sterling Clark, her son, by descent (1909–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.
1. Louis Soullié, Peintures, aquarelles, pastels, dessins de Jean-François Millet relevés dans les catalogues de ventes de 1849 à 1900, p. 7, lists Saulnier as the first owner; this may indicate John Saulnier, who owned several other paintings by Millet.
2. The “PT” monogram on the reverse of this panel suggests that it was owned by Paul Tesse, but the dates of his ownership are unknown. See also 1955.555 and 1955.532.