Reckoning with Millet's "Man with a Hoe," 1863-1900

Jean-François Millet's Man with a Hoe (ca. 1860–62) is a significant painting in the J. Paul Getty Museums collection of nineteenth-century European art. This book explores its controversial reception, from its scandalous debut at the 1863 Paris Salon to its acquisition by American collectors in the 1890s.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 128 pages
Publication date: 31 October 2023
Publisher: Getty Trust Publications

Jean-François Millet's Man with a Hoe (ca. 1860–62) is a powerful portrayal of a peasant struggling under the weight of brutal labor. Considered one of the most significant paintings in the J. Paul Getty Museums collection of nineteenth-century European art, this masterpiece has a rich history that spans from its controversial debut at the 1863 Paris Salon to its acquisition by American collectors in the 1890s.

This volume explores the painting's place within the artist's career, tracing its fascinating and contentious reception. The essays delve into the painting's tumultuous public life, beginning in France, where critics attacked it on aesthetic and political grounds as a radical realist provocation. They examine its transformative movement in the art market during the remaining years of the artist's life and following his death, as well as its highly publicized arrival in California as a celebrated masterpiece.

In the United States, the painting was enlisted to serve philanthropic interests, became the subject of a popular poem, and once again became embroiled in controversy, this time strongly influenced by American racial politics. This is the first publication dedicated to the work since its acquisition by the Getty Museum in 1985, offering a comprehensive examination of its historical significance and cultural impact.

Dimension: 219 x 184 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781606068557