Hamlet in a Wheat Field, Vichy
In the summers of 1866−68, Millet accompanied his wife to the spa town of Vichy in central France. As he explored the unfamiliar region, he produced a significant corpus of drawings that mark a shift from the peasant subjects for which he was renowned to a focus on pure landscape. Here, the softening of the long, vertical strokes of brown ink with a wet brush conveys a sense of movement at the edge of the wheat field. The strikingly bare foreground may have been inspired by Japanese woodblock prints that the artist began collecting in 1863.
Artwork Details
- Title: Hamlet in a Wheat Field, Vichy
- Artist: Jean-François Millet (French, Gruchy 1814–1875 Barbizon)
- Date: 1867
- Medium: Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, and watercolor
- Dimensions: Sheet: 8 1/8 × 10 7/16 in. (20.6 × 26.5 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Bequest of Nanette B. Kelekian, 2020
- Object Number: 2021.28.1
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
More Artwork
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Jean-François Millet
ca. 1845–50
Jean-François Millet
late 19th century
Jean-François Millet
1863
Jean-François Millet
1834–75
Jean-François Millet
1863
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