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Jean-François Millet
Gruchy 1814 – 1875 Barbizon
Hagar
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size: 220 x 435 mm, 8 11/16 x 17 1/8 in.
technique: Charcoal on blue paper, squared in black chalk
provenance: anonymous sale, Paris, Binoche Renaud-Giquello & Associés, 30 March 2012, n°37, illus.; Collection Aristophile
bibliography: René Boitelle, “Reflections on J.-F. Millet’s Agar et Ismaël : technical analyses of an unfinished painting“, Art matters: Netherlandish technical studies in art, 2005, vol. 2, p. 7-21, p. 11, fig. 8
Description
The present drawing is preparatory for the figure of Hagar painted by Millet in his painting Hagar and Ishmael in the Mesdag museum in The Hague. Commissioned in 1848 by the French government, the painting was never finished, possibly because of Millet’s departure for Barbizon. The subject is from the book of Genesis. Driven into the desert by Abraham after her mistress Sarah had given birth, Hagar finds herself alone in the wilderness with her son Ishmael. Millet chose to depict the most tragic moment in the story, when Hagar turns away from her child, unable to bear the pain of seeing him starve to death. In the drawing, as in the painting, the attention paid to the expression helps to convey the very essence of the story, which is human suffering. Executed in black charcoal, the figure of Hagar, ugly, hollow and distorted, manifests her despair. Millet’s realism here prefigures the work of 20th century artists like Käthe Kollwitz.
Additional information
| size: | 220 x 435 mm, 8 <sup>11/16 </sup>x 17 <sup>1/8 </sup>in. |
|---|---|
| technique: | Charcoal on blue paper, squared in black chalk |
| provenance: | anonymous sale, Paris, Binoche Renaud-Giquello & Associés, 30 March 2012, n°37, illus.; |
| bibliography: | René Boitelle, “Reflections on J.-F. Millet’s Agar et Ismaël : technical analyses of an unfinished painting“, Art matters: Netherlandish technical studies in art, 2005, vol. 2, p. 7-21, p. 11, fig. 8 |
