Artwork
A Cosey Corner
A Cosey Corner is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Francis Davis Millet. It dates from 1884 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Frank Millet painted it in 1884, the year he first found Broadway, the Cotswolds village that became his home and an Anglo-American artists' colony.
A young woman in a romanticized eighteenth-century dress sits reading by a country-house window, a kettle hung over the open hearth beside her. Frank Millet painted it in 1884, the year he first found Broadway, the Cotswolds village that became his home and an Anglo-American artists' colony. Though the interior looks English, several details match the New England kitchen in his Massachusetts studio.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a woman seated in a cozy domestic interior, engaged in reading. The scene includes a fireplace with andirons, a footstool, a window, and a rifle, as well as personal items such as a cap, fichu, and clothes iron. A book and candlestick further emphasize the intimate, quiet atmosphere.
The title 'A Cosey Corner' reinforces the theme of comfort and domestic tranquility. The composition combines elements of leisure (reading) with household objects, suggesting a moment of peaceful retreat within the home. The rifle introduces a subtle note of rustic or frontier life, contrasting with the refined domestic setting.
Overall, the work represents a harmonious domestic scene, typical of late-19th-century genre painting, focusing on the simple pleasures of home and reading.
History & Provenance
Painted by Frank Millet in 1884, A Cosey Corner is an oil-on-canvas genre scene. The painting is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is classified under The American Wing. No specific commission or further ownership chain has been recorded in the available sources.
Overview
Francis Davis Millet completed "A Cosey Corner," an oil on canvas, in 1884. This genre scene depicts a young woman engrossed in a book by a window in an old country house, with a fire burning in the hearth. The work exemplifies Millet's interest in romanticized historical domesticity.
Measuring 36 1/4 by 24 1/4 inches, the painting subtly blends English and American colonial architectural elements, creating an intriguing transatlantic ambiguity within its intimate setting.
Context
Millet created "A Cosey Corner" in 1884, the same year he first encountered Broadway, a village in the Cotswolds region of England. This picturesque location soon became his residence and a vibrant hub for an Anglo-American artistic community. Renowned figures such as painter John Singer Sargent and writer Henry James were frequent visitors, underscoring the international connections that influenced Millet's artistic perspective and his thematic exploration of historical settings.
Legacy
Beyond his painting career, Francis Davis Millet played an active role in numerous arts organizations, notably serving with the American Academy in Rome. His life concluded tragically in 1912 when, while returning to New York on official academy business, he perished in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. This event marked an untimely end to a career characterized by both artistic production and significant contributions to the institutional development of American art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Francis Davis Millet (November 3, 1848 – April 15, 1912) was an American academic classical painter, sculptor, and writer who died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
