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Retreat from the Storm

ca. 1846
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 802
The impending storm poses a real threat to this woman and her child, whose subsistence depends on the stray sticks of firewood they have gathered. Throughout the 1840s the number of homeless peasants increased dramatically in France, reaching a crisis in the recession of 1847 and contributing to the fall of King Louis-Philippe in the 1848 revolution. Millet's singular image, rivalling Delacroix in its depth of emotion and Daumier in its graphic economy, probably represents Millet’s first treatment of this theme. He reworked the composition in a painting now in the Denver Art Museum.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Retreat from the Storm
  • Artist: Jean-François Millet (French, Gruchy 1814–1875 Barbizon)
  • Date: ca. 1846
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 18 1/4 x 15 in. (46.4 x 38.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Sarina Tang and Peter M. Wood, 2002
  • Object Number: 2002.613
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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A Young Man Seated, Bent over a Reclining Figure, Jean-François Millet French, Red chalk with stumping on laid paper
A Young Man Seated, Bent over a Reclining Figure
Jean-François Millet
ca. 1845–50
Shepherd and His Flock, Jean-François Millet French, Pastel on papier bleuté
Shepherd and His Flock
Jean-François Millet
late 19th century
Digger, Jean-François Millet French, Woodcut on laid paper; second (final) state; posthumous edition
Digger
Jean-François Millet
1863
Proof from a block of sketches, Jean-François Millet French, Woodcut on china paper, laid down on card; second (final) state; posthumous impression
Proof from a block of sketches
Jean-François Millet
1834–75
Digger, Jean-François Millet French, Woodcut in brown ink on laid paper; second (final) state; posthumous impression
Digger
Jean-François Millet
1863

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