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Woman Sewing beside her Sleeping Child
Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875)
about 1858–62
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
34 x 27.3 cm (13 3/8 x 10 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy Adams Shaw, Jr., and Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton
Accession Number17.1493
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Millet was masterful at capturing delicate nuances of light, showcased here in this nighttime interior scene. A soft glow emanates from the hanging oil lamp, gently bathing the woman and her slumbering child in a golden light—just enough to make out the white string held taut between the woman’s hands.
Many artists visited Millet in Barbizon, including the young Canadian-American painter Wyatt Eaton who was captivated by this particular work, writing: “The reality of this scene, the naturalness of movement, the perfection of expression, the charm, separated it from all other pictures, and from that moment Millet was to me the greatest of modern painters.”
Many artists visited Millet in Barbizon, including the young Canadian-American painter Wyatt Eaton who was captivated by this particular work, writing: “The reality of this scene, the naturalness of movement, the perfection of expression, the charm, separated it from all other pictures, and from that moment Millet was to me the greatest of modern painters.”
Catalogue Raisonné
Murphy 91
InscriptionsLower right: J. F. Millet
Provenance1862, with Ennemond Blanc and Alfred Stevens, Paris. Quincy Adams Shaw (b. 1825 - d. 1908), Boston; 1917, gift of Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy A. Shaw, Jr. and Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 29, 1917)