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Primroses
Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875)
1867–68
Medium/Technique
Pastel on gray-brown wove paper
Dimensions
40.3 x 47.9 cm (15 7/8 x 18 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy Adams Shaw, Jr., and Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton
Accession Number17.1523
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Prints and Drawings
ClassificationsPastels
Millet’s art was groundbreaking in its assertion that ordinary men and women and the most commonplace activities were worthy subjects for serious art. Characteristically, he found beauty in humble flowers – dandelions and primroses, or cowslips, that grew on the floor of the Forest of Fontanebleau and in the meadows surrounding it. Unlike the specimens in most flower paintings, Millet’s are growing and presented to us in an intimate, flower’s-eye view.
InscriptionsLower right: J. F. Millet
Provenance1868-1875, acquired from the artist by Emile Gavet (b. 1830 -d. 1904), Paris (commissioned in 1867); June 11-12, 1875, Gavet sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, lot 47, sold to Alexis-Eugene Détrimont (dealer), Paris, probably for 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)