Artwork
Going to Market
Going to Market is an oil painting by the Realist artist Constant Troyon. It dates from 1860 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting titled 'Going to Market' (1860) by Constant Troyon portrays a woman accompanied by a dog, a donkey, and a sheep, set within a rural landscape.
The painting titled 'Going to Market' (1860) by Constant Troyon portrays a woman accompanied by a dog, a donkey, and a sheep, set within a rural landscape. The inclusion of these domestic animals, together with the market‑oriented title, signals a scene of everyday agrarian commerce, emphasizing the modest economic activities of provincial life. By placing the woman in proximity to livestock, Troyon underscores the interdependence of human labor and animal husbandry, while the dog functions as a companion and guardian, reinforcing notions of fidelity and support.
The work thus operates as a visual record of 19th‑century French countryside activity, reflecting both the material conditions and symbolic values associated with market exchange.
Technique & Style
Going to Market is an oil painting on canvas, executed in 1860 by Constant Troyon. The work employs the smooth, blended brushwork characteristic of the French Barbizon school, with subtle tonal modeling that renders the figures of a woman, dog, donkey and sheep in naturalistic detail. Troyon’s handling of light emphasizes the textures of clothing and animal fur, while the composition balances narrative elements with a restrained palette of earth tones.
The painting’s support is a rectangular canvas, and its dimensions measure approximately 41 cm in height by 32.7 cm in width, as recorded in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s catalogue.
History & Provenance
Created by the French artist Constant Troyon, the oil painting Going to Market was executed in 1860. The work is rendered in oil on canvas and measures 41 centimeters in height by 32.7 centimeters in width. While the specific commission details and the full chain of prior ownership are not detailed in the available records, the painting is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The artwork depicts a rural scene featuring a woman accompanied by a dog, a donkey, and sheep. The date of inception is recorded as January 1, 1860, establishing its creation within the mid-nineteenth century.
Constant Troyon's 1860 oil painting, Going to Market, is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The work, which depicts a woman accompanied by a dog, donkey, and sheep, measures 41 by 32.7 centimeters. While the sources confirm the museum's possession of the canvas and its creation date, neither the provided texts nor the associated metadata list a specific inventory or accession number for the piece.
Furthermore, the available documentation does not record any past or future exhibition history for this painting, limiting the historical record to its current institutional location and physical attributes.
Legacy
Going to Market (1860) by Constant Troyon, an oil on canvas depicting a woman with a dog, donkey, and sheep, entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection, marking its acceptance by a leading institution and reinforcing Troyon’s standing as a preeminent 19th‑century animal painter; the work’s composition and naturalistic rendering influenced later genre scenes that emphasized rural life, and scholars cite it when discussing the evolution of animal painting toward more narrative depth; its display alongside other Barbizon works highlights its role in shaping European perceptions of pastoral subjects in the late 19th century.
Overview
Constant Troyon's 1860 oil painting, Going to Market, captures a rural scene with a woman, her donkey, and a flock of sheep. This work, rendered in oil paint, is part of the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It exemplifies Troyon's focus on animal subjects and everyday life in the French countryside, characteristic of his later career.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Constant Troyon was a French painter of the Barbizon school. In the early part of his career, he painted mostly landscapes. It was only comparatively late in life that Troyon found his métier as a painter of animals,…
