Hamlet in a Wheat Field, Vichy

1867

Not on view

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

By Jean-François Millet

In the same medium

Haystacks: Autumn, Jean-François Millet French, Oil on canvas — Haystacks: Autumn
Jean-François Millet
ca. 1874

Eastern Coast of Rügen with Shepherd, Caspar David Friedrich German, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over graphite, with white opaque watercolor; partial framing lines in pen and brown-black ink — Eastern Coast of Rügen with Shepherd
Caspar David Friedrich
1805–6

Retreat from the Storm, Jean-François Millet French, Oil on canvas — Retreat from the Storm
Jean-François Millet
ca. 1846

The Connoisseur, Honoré Daumier French, Pen and ink, wash, watercolor, lithographic crayon, and gouache over black chalk on wove paper — The Connoisseur
Honoré Daumier
ca. 1860–65

Autumn Landscape with a Flock of Turkeys, Jean-François Millet French, Oil on canvas — Autumn Landscape with a Flock of Turkeys
Jean-François Millet
1872–73

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