Mother and Child
about 1846–184816 x 12 7/8 in. (40.64 x 32.7 cm)
Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875)
Medium:
Oil on canvas
Credit Line:
Bequest of Charles Phelps Taft and Anna Sinton Taft
Accession Number:
1931.422
Currently on View in:
Fields & Flowers (11)
Exhibition History
Los Angeles. The J. Paul Getty Museum. January 9, 2002–November 30, 2003 (during TMA renovation).Ohio. Cincinnati Museum Center. Borrowed Gems from the Taft Museum of Art, July 23, 2021–February 21, 2022.
Gallery Label
A peasant mother gently balances an uncooperative toddler on her hip. Jean-François Millet’s wife Catherine Lemaire and the couple’s nine children frequently modeled for his artworks. Their first child was born in 1846, not long before Millet completed this painting. The embrace between loving mother and struggling child was probably a familiar sight in Millet’s large household. The subject may also have been inspired by memories of rural Normandy, in northern France, where Millet grew up as the son of prosperous farmers.
Provenance
Acquired by V. Claude; sold, 1853 (possibly no. 58). (Acquired by Scott and Fowles, New York, NY); purchased by Charles Phelps Taft [1843-1929] and Anna Sinton Taft [1850-1931], Cincinnati, OH, November 10, 1903; donated to the Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts, Cincinnati, OH, May 21, 1927 [1]; transferred to the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH, September 1, 2006 [2]. Notes:
[1]. The Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts (CIFA) was formed by Charles Phelps and Anna Sinton Taft on March 22, 1927 as a non-profit corporation to stimulate the development of art and music in the City of Cincinnati and run the Taft Museum of Art, which opened in 1932. The Tafts offered $1 million for a permanent endowment fund, on the condition that the community raise $2.5 million in matching funds, which was achieved by December 3, 1928. [2]. Until August 31, 2006, the Museum was owned by CIFA, administered by CIFA’s Board of Trustees, and governed by the Taft Museum Board of Overseers. On September 1, 2006, the Museum legally separated from CIFA and began operations as its own incorporated 501(c)(3) entity. This separate incorporation led to the transfer to the separate entity after August 31, 2006 of all tangible assets comprising the Taft collection.
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