Primroses
Jean-François Millet
(French, 1814–1875)
1867–68
Medium/TechniquePastel on gray-brown wove paper
Dimensions40.3 x 47.9 cm (15 7/8 x 18 7/8 in.)
Credit LineGift of Quincy Adams Shaw through Quincy Adams Shaw, Jr., and Mrs. Marian Shaw Haughton
Accession number17.1523
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPastels
Collections
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. MilletProvenance1868-1875, 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)
