Jean-François Millet

Secretan collection, Paris

Edonars collection, Paris

Foinard collection, Paris

Goupil & Verledon, Paris, by 1892

Purchased from the above by Mr. C.M.S. White (by 1893); thence by descent to his daughter

Kievits Galleries, Pasadena, California, by 1931 (purchased from the above)

Colonel Steven L'Hommedieu Slocum, Washington, D.C. , by 1932 (purchased from the above)

Knoedler, New York (their label on the stretcher)

Margaret O. F Proctor

Sale: Christie's, New York, 12 October 1979, lot 50

Purchased from the above by the present owner's father

Compositionally and stylistically this work can be grouped with the landscapes Millet painted in the early 1870s in the environs of Gruchy in Normandy, where he grew up. Millet returned to his native Normandy in August 1870, to flee the Franco-Prussian war, and he remained until November 1871. Here, he completed a number of paintings, and to begin paintings that were finished later in Barbizon. These works confirm not only the larger role that landscape (without human incident) now played in his art, but also their importance for the development of Impressionism. His earlier Auvergne drawings, pastels and paintings were a preparation for the most unusual characteristic of the Norman landscapes: their high horizon lines and frequent suppression of receding diagonals. By emphasizing horizontal planes that rise upward on the canvas, Millet eliminated some of the traditional indicators of deep space. At the same time, he more often applied colour in separate brushstrokes, intensified his palette, and painted on light primings. All of these characteristics shared in the rapid evolution of French landscape towards Impressionism.