The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Return from the Fields

Return from the Fields

c. 1846–47
(French, 1814–1875)
Framed: 68 x 60 x 10 cm (26 3/4 x 23 5/8 x 3 15/16 in.); Unframed: 46.2 x 37.8 cm (18 3/16 x 14 7/8 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

This idealized vision of noble peasant life was painted during a period of intense industrialization in France, accompanied by economic depression and the abandonment of farms. Nostalgic peasant scenes were especially popular in the 1840s, a stark contrast to the disillusionment and tension that would violently surface in the Revolution of 1848. The vague shapes and faces of the family seen here make them symbols of the land, rather than individuals.
  • John W. Wilson. His sale, Paris, Drouot, 27-28 April 1874 (lot 113), Retour des Champs, ff 8,200. Frédéric Hartmann, Münster. His sale, Paris, Drouot, 11 May 1876 (lot 24), Retour des champs, 45 x 38 cm, ff 6,350. W. A. Coats, Scotland, 1901. London sale, Christie's, 10 June 1927 (lot 74), The Last Load, for £483 to Blaker. D. Croal Thompson, 1928. Howard Murray, Montreal. His sale, New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries, 23 October 1941 (lot 34, repr.), bought by L. J. Marion. Hazlitt Gallery, London. Purchased by the CMA in 1972.
  • Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1972.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 60, no. 3 (March 1973): 63–115. Reproduced: p. 83; Mentioned: p. 109, no. 124 www.jstor.org
    Talbot, William S. “Jean-François Millet: Return from the Fields.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 60, no. 9 (November 1973): 258–266. Reproduced: Cover, p. 258; Mentioned: p. 259 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 207 archive.org
    Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 442-444, Vol. II, no. 153
    Gianfreda, Sandra. "Introduction." In Praised and Ridiculed: French Painting 1820-1880. Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, ed., 12-19. Munich: Hirmer; Zürich: Kunsthaus Zürich, [2017]. Mentioned: p. 17; Reproduced: p. 108, cat. 78
    Rubin, James. "Landscape into Modernity: Nineteenth-Century Transitions." In Praised and Ridiculed: French Painting 1820-1880. Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, ed., 56-66. Munich: Hirmer; Zürich: Kunsthaus Zürich, [2017]. Mentioned: p. 66; Reproduced: p. 108, cat. 78
    Herring, Sarah. The Nineteenth-Century French Paintings. London : National Gallery Company, 2019. Mentioned and reproduced: pp.385-386, fig. 4
  • Praised and Ridiculed: French Painting 1820 - 1880. Kunsthaus Zürich, CH-8024 Zürich, Switzerland (organizer) (November 10, 2017-January 28, 2018).
    L'Ecole de Barbizon. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, 69001 Lyon, France (organizer) (June 20-September 9, 2002).
    Lyon, France. Musee des Beaux-Arts de Lyon. "L'Ecole de Barbizon" (6/20/2002 - 9/9/2002), exh cat no. 82, p.246.
    Return to Nature: Millet, the Barbizon Artists, and the Renewal of the Rural Tradition. Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Kofu (September 26-December 8, 1998).
    Køfu, Japan. Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art. Return to Nature: J. F. Millet, the Barbizon Artists, and the Renewal of the Rural Tradition (1998), 22, 108, no. ii-13, 124 (repr.).
    Jean-François Millet. Hayward Gallery, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (January 20-March 7, 1976); Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (organizer) (October 17-January 5, 1976).
    Paris, Grand Palais; London, Hayward Gallery. Jean-François Millet (1975-76), no. 22 (repr.), (no. 12 in English cat.).
    Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).
    Glasgow. International Exhibition (1901), no. 1323, The Last Load, lent by W. A. Coats, Esq.
  • {{cite web|title=Return from the Fields|url=false|author=Jean-François Millet|year=c. 1846–47|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.19