The subject of sheep shearing occupied Millet for much of the 1850s. This composition is similar to that of a painting in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, which Millet exhibited at the Salon of 1853. He produced several other drawings on this theme, a second painting, and a watercolor that was delivered to his friend and biographer Alfred Sensier in 1857. Finally, he adapted the design in a painting exhibited at the Salon of 1861.
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Medium:Conté crayon with stumping, heightened with pen and brown ink and white gouache on wove paper
Dimensions:11 5/8 x 8 7/8 in. (29.5 x 22.5 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Gift of Miss G. Louise Robinson, 1940
Object Number:40.12.3
La tondeuse de moutons
Signature: Conté crayon, lower right: J.F. Millet
Commissioned by Alfred Sensierfor Philippe de Chennevières; Philippe de Chennevières (French)His sale Paris, Hotel Drouot, 4-7 April 1900, lot 686 (6000 francs to Arnold); Arnold and Tripp(sold 1901); Knoedler and Co. (French, British, American), New York
Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Nineteenth century French drawings, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1947," March 8, 1947–April 6, 1947.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Barbizon: French Landscapes of the Nineteenth Century," February 4–May 10, 1992.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown. "Jean-François Millet: Drawn Into the Light," June 18, 1999–September 7, 1999.
The Frick Collection. "Jean-François Millet: Drawn Into the Light," February 10, 2001–April 23, 2001.
Moreau-Nélaton 1921, vol. II, p. 36, fig. 133
Charles Saunier Le Peinture au XIXe siècle. 1, Paris, n.d., ill.
Arthur Hoeber The Barbizon Painters. New York, 1915, ill.
Etienne Moreau-Nélaton Millet raconté par lui-même. 3 vols, Paris, 1921, Vol. 2, p. 36, ill. fig. 133 (our drawing, sold to Sensier 1857 - Robert Herbert believes this is a variant, not ours); vol. 1, fig. 85 (Boston Museum ptg.);; vol. 2, fig. 156 (Saltonstall ptg.), fig. no. 133, vol. 2, p. 36, ill.
Josephine Lansing Allen, The Metropolitan Museum of Art "A Gift of XIX Century Art." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. vol. 35, New York, 1940, pp. 57-58, 59 (i, ill.
Walter Mehring European Drawings from the Collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Portfolio of Collotype Reproductions [Vol. 1: Italian Drawings; Vol. 2: Flemish, Dutch, German, Spanish, French, and British drawings; Vol. 3: "New Series": Italian, Flemish, Dutch, German, Spanish, French, and British drawings]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 3 vols., New York, 1942–44, cat. no. 40 (vol.2), fig. no. 40, ill.
Nineteenth century French drawings. San Francisco, 1947, cat. no. 48.
Regina Shoolman, Charles E. Slatkin Six Centuries of French Master Drawings in America. Oxford University Press, New York, 1950, fig. no. pl. 92, p. 162, ill.
Jean François MIllet. Exh. cat., Paris, Grand Palais; London, Hayward Gallery. Paris and London, 1975-76, no. 92 of Paris cat.; no. 74 of London cat., cat. no. 92, 74, ill.
Alexandra R. Murphy, Richard Rand, Brian T. Allen, James Ganz, Alexis Goodin Jean-François Millet: Drawn into the Light. Exh cat., Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Mass., Frick Art & Historical Center, Pittsburgh, Pa. New Haven and London, 1999, cat. no. 36, p. 68, ill.
Louis-Antoine Prat, Laurence Lhinares La collection Chennevières: Quatre siècles de dessins français. Paris, 2007, cat. no. 475, p. 346, ill.
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