Shearing Sheep
Jean-François Millet
(French, 1814–1875)
1852–53
Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas
Dimensions40.7 x 24.8 cm (16 x 9 3/4 in.)
Credit LineGift of Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy Adams Shaw, Jr., and Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton
Accession number17.1489
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPaintings
Collections
In early 1890, while he was staying at the asylum at St-Rémy, in Provence, van Gogh embarked on a series of copies after Millet's paintings of the "labors of the fields," of which this is one of the originals. Although Vincent expressed his reservations about this exercise, "fearing it might be plagiarism," his brother Theo greatly admired the results. "The copies after Millet are possibly the finest things you've done," he wrote.
InscriptionsLower right: J. F. MilletProvenanceAbout 1853, purchased from the artist by William Morris Hunt, Boston; 1874, sold by Hunt to Doll and Richards, Boston, 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)
