Artwork
Calling the Cows Home
Calling the Cows Home is an unspecified painting by the Realist artist Jean François Millet. It dates from 1872 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
A cowherd sounds his horn at twilight, calling cattle home across a loosely painted landscape. In an 1872 letter to his biographer Alfred Sensier, Jean-François Millet called this oil on panel little more than a sketch, yet he signed it. Drawn outlines and hatchings stay visible, an orange-gold underlayer glowing through the thin forms.
Overview
Its raw, expressive surface and focus on atmospheric effects distinguish it as a significant late piece, now housed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Jean-François Millet's Calling the Cows Home is an oil on wood panel depicting a cowherd summoning his cattle at dusk. Despite the artist's own description of it as merely a "sketch" in an 1872 letter, this work represents his final treatment of the subject. Its raw, expressive surface and focus on atmospheric effects distinguish it as a significant late piece, now housed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Subject & Meaning
The painting portrays a lone cowherd at twilight, sounding a horn to gather his herd. This theme of rural labor and the rhythms of daily life was a recurring interest for Millet, who had previously explored the motif in a charcoal drawing from the late 1850s and a pastel around 1866. This oil panel offers his ultimate painted interpretation of the scene.
Technique & Style
Millet's approach to Calling the Cows Home is characterized by its visible process and unfinished quality. The artist left preliminary drawn outlines and hatchings exposed on the panel's surface. An initial orange-gold layer applied across the entire support radiates through the thinly and loosely painted landscape, contributing to the work's luminous, atmospheric effect and its exploratory aesthetic.
Context
Completed late in Millet's career, Calling the Cows Home marks a shift from the overt social realism found in earlier works like The Gleaners. Instead of focusing on the hardships of peasant life, this painting emphasizes transient light and atmospheric conditions. This exploration of fleeting visual phenomena aligns it with emerging Impressionist concerns, showcasing a different facet of the artist's evolving practice.
History & Provenance
This oil on panel entered the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1950. The institution received the artwork as a generous gift from Mrs. Arthur Whitney. Today, Calling the Cows Home is exhibited within Gallery 802, allowing visitors to observe Millet's distinctive late style and his unique approach to depicting rural life and natural light.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Jean-François Millet (French pronunciation:; 4 October 1814 – 20 January 1875) was a French painter and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France.
