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Path through the Wheat
Path through the Wheat

Path through the Wheat

Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875)
about 1867
Medium/TechniquePastel and black conté crayon on gray wove paper
Dimensions40 x 50.8 cm (15 3/4 x 20 in.)
Credit LineGift of Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy Adams Shaw, Jr., and Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton
Accession number17.1521
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPastels
Description
Millet's biographer Alfred Sensier quoted him as saying, "If I could do what I wanted, or at least attempt it, I would do nothing that was not the result of an impression received from nature, be it in landscapes or figures." In many works, impressions from nature were combined with inspiration from other artistic sources. A sixteenth-century engraving of Summer provided the basis for elements of this very fine pastel.
InscriptionsLower right: J. F. MilletProvenanceCommissioned from the artist by Emile Gavet (b. 1830 - d. 1904), Paris; June 11-12, 1875, Gavet sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, lot 86, sold to Alexis-Eugene Détrimont (dealer), Paris, probably for Quincy Adams Shaw (b. 1825 - d. 1908), Boston; 1917, given to the MFA by Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy A. Shaw, Jr. and Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 29, 1917)
Entrance to the Forest at Barbizon in Winter
Jean-François Millet
about 1866–67
Jean-François Millet
1867
Buckwheat Harvest
Jean-François Millet
1868–70
Coming Storm
Jean-François Millet
1867–68
Millet's Birthplace at Gruchy
Jean-François Millet
about 1863
House with a Well at Gruchy
Jean-François Millet
about 1863
Manor House near Gréville
Jean-François Millet
about 1863
After the Day's Work
Jean-François Millet
about 1863
Two Men Turning over the Soil
Jean-François Millet
1866
Noonday Rest
Jean-François Millet
1866
Newborn Lamb
Jean-François Millet
1866