id: 160508 accession number: 1998.300 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1998.300 updated: 2022-01-04 17:24:37.365000 The Sick Child, 1858. Jean-François Millet (French, 1814-1875). Black crayon; framing lines in black crayon; sheet: 40.4 x 32.1 cm (15 7/8 x 12 5/8 in.); image: 32.9 x 24.9 cm (12 15/16 x 9 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Paul J. Vignos, Jr. 1998.300 title: The Sick Child title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1858 creation date earliest: 1858 creation date latest: 1858 current location: creditline: Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Paul J. Vignos, Jr. copyright: --- culture: France, 19th century technique: black crayon; framing lines in black crayon department: Drawings collection: DR - French type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Jean-François Millet (French, 1814-1875) - artist Son of a wealthy farmer, Jean-François Millet studied with a portrait painter from Cherbourg, Bon du Mouchel (1807-1846), himself a student of David (q.v.). Mouchel required his young apprentice to copy paintings in the museum in Cherbourg, where Millet had been sent to enter the studio of Lucien-Théophile Langlois (1803-1845), a former student of Gros (q.v.). Millet received a stipend from the city to move to Paris in 1837, enrolling in the École des Beaux-Arts in the studio of Delaroche (q.v.), where he met Couture (q.v.). Within two years he had left Delaroche, and his stipend was withdrawn. To earn a living, he executed pastels and small paintings in the style of Jean Antoine Watteau (1684-1729) and François Boucher (1703-1770). In 1839 the first painting that Millet sent to the Salon, Saint Anne Instructing the Virgin, was refused. The following year one portrait was accepted at the Salon, and Millet spent the winter in Cherbourg where he could make a living painting portraits. After his marriage to Pauline-Virginie Ono, he returned to Paris, painting various subjects but finding little success. He met Théodore Rousseau (q.v.) and Diaz de la Peña (q.v.) and was introduced to Durand-Ruel, who purchased some of his works, at that point mainly pastoral scenes and nudes. In the late 1840s Millet began to devote himself to painting peasants and rural life, subjects that automatically had political overtones in the light of the 1848 revolutions. In 1849 he settled in Barbizon, continuing his depictions of the peasantry. He achieved some financial security thanks to Alfred Sensier, who supplied him with materials and sold his paintings. At the Salon of 1850-51 Millet exhibited The Sower (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), which received a great deal of attention. Although the conservatives accused Millet of overemphasizing the poverty of the peasants, the republican and leftist movement hailed the painting as a dignified representation of the working class. Millet claimed to be interested solely in the biblical allusions of his subject, yet he seemed to persist in painting the poorest peasants at the worst tasks. The final ten years of his life were successful ones. A retrospective of his work at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1867 solidified his reputation, and the following year he received the Legion of Honor. His work was influential for generations of artists. --- measurements: Sheet: 40.4 x 32.1 cm (15 7/8 x 12 5/8 in.); Image: 32.9 x 24.9 cm (12 15/16 x 9 13/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: vellum watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: by artist?, lower center, in black chalk: enfant mala[de] [partially erased] ; by artist?, lower center, in black chalk: 5 ; in graphite, lower center: [illegible: circled number?][written over the 5] ; lower center, in graphite: No 100 translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2000-08-27T00:00:00 Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Estate of the artist [stamp, lower right, in black ink, Lugt 1460; verso, lower left, in black ink, Lugt Suppl. 1816a]. CHECK MILLET CATALOG, CHECK 1894 CAT OF MILLET'S WIDOW date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: Jean-François Millet’s paintings of French rural life, especially those of peasants and farmers in their working environment, redefined the imagery of everyday life in the nineteenth century. Large-scale paintings such as The Gleaners (1857) presented the poorest of laborers with a dignity and nobility informed by classical traditions in French painting. At the same time he was working on major paintings for public exhibitions, Millet was also making smaller-scale drawings. Since drawings were less expensive, there was a much larger market for this type of work, and Millet created finished sheets in both black crayon and pastel as he catered to this demand. The work shown here is the first version of a theme the artist drew again in pastel in a more finished version (now lost). This crayon drawing shows, on the other hand, Millet’s thinking process. We can see him working out the composition because several changes are visible, most notably in the bowl held by the father and the cat in the window. Though taken from everyday life, Millet’s tender treatment of this family group recalls the biblical subject of the Holy Family. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art, “Major Benin Bronze Plaque, Rembrandt Print, Other Works of Art Enter CMA Collection,” March 12, 1999, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr4240 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1998.300/1998.300_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1998.300/1998.300_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1998.300/1998.300_full.tif