Artwork
Women Carrying Faggots
Women Carrying Faggots is an unspecified painting by the Realist artist Jean François Millet. It dates from 1858 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work reflects the everyday toil of peasant life and was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains in the Robert Lehman collection.
Women Carrying Faggots is a painting by Jean‑François Millet completed in 1858. It portrays rural women bent under bundles of firewood, illustrating the physical labor of gathering wood in the French countryside. The work reflects the everyday toil of peasant life and was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains in the Robert Lehman collection.
The painting’s dimensions are 34.3 cm by 27.6 cm, and it is classified as an oil on canvas.
History & Provenance
Jean-François Millet created the painting Women Carrying Faggots in 1858. The work depicts women engaged in labor, consistent with the artist's focus on rural subjects. At some point following its creation, the painting entered the collection of Robert Lehman. It is currently held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The work is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where it entered the collection as part of the Robert Lehman bequest.
It has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 2018 presentation "Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence," where it was shown under the title "Women Carrying Faggots" and dated to 1858.
Overview
Jean-François Millet's 1858 painting, Women Carrying Faggots, exemplifies the Realism movement's focus on everyday life. As a co-founder of the Barbizon school, Millet consistently depicted the rural working class. This oil painting captures three women burdened with bundles of wood, reflecting the artist's commitment to portraying the unvarnished reality of peasant labor and its inherent dignity.
Technique & Style
Millet renders the scene with a grounded realism, emphasizing the weight and effort of the women's task. The figures are robustly modeled, their forms conveying a sense of physical exertion. A muted palette and an indistinct, dark background serve to isolate the laborers, drawing focus to their forms and the demanding nature of their work. This approach underscores the unidealized representation characteristic of the Realist movement.
Context
Created during a period when Millet dedicated his practice to representing agricultural life, this painting aligns with his broader oeuvre exploring peasant existence. His work, including Women Carrying Faggots, contributed significantly to the Realist movement by challenging traditional academic art's preference for historical or mythological subjects. Millet sought to convey the authentic experiences and quiet struggles of those working the land.
Own this work as a print
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.
Peasants Carrying Sticks (Paysannes portant des fagots)
A Woman Carrying a Bundle of Sticks
Peasants Carrying Sticks (Paysannes portant des fagots)
Peasant Women with Brushwood
Man Carrying a Sack
Herbst
Fagot-gatherers (Les fagottiers)
Return to the Cottage (Le retour a la chaumiere)
Fagot-makers (Les faiseurs de fagots)
Wandering Saltimbanques