Garden Scene

Inscription: Signed (lower right): J. F. Millet.

Morris K. Jesup, New York (until d. 1908); his widow, Maria DeWitt Jesup, New York (1908–d. 1914)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Barbizon: French Landscapes of the Nineteenth Century," February 4–May 10, 1992, no catalogue.

Albany. New York State Museum. "French Painters of Nature; The Barbizon School: Landscapes from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 22–August 22, 2004, no catalogue.

Edinburgh. National Gallery of Scotland. "Impressionist Gardens," July 31–October 17, 2010, no. 8.

Madrid. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. "Impressionist Gardens," November 16, 2010–February 13, 2011, no. 8.

Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 68.

Robert L. Herbert. Letter to Mrs. Leonard Harris. January 19, 1962, notes that this picture was painted in the summer of 1854 in Gréville, near Cherbourg.

Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, XIX Century. New York, 1966, p. 89, ill., note that it depicts Millet's birthplace, the village of Gruchy in the commune of Gréville.

Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 418, ill.

Clare A. P. Willsdon. Impressionist Gardens. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh. London, 2010, pp. 22, 25, 32–33, 143, no. 8, ill. (color), notes that Millet had returned to his home village of Gruchy to settle his mother's estate, and that although this picture may not represent the family's actual garden, the man in the foreground recalls Millet's description of his great-uncle cultivating the land.