Man with a Hoe
1860–1862
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 81.9 × 100.3 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-136468
"[A]s I have never seen anything but fields since I was born, I try to say as best I can what I saw and felt when I was at work," wrote Jean-François Millet. At the Salon of 1863, *Man with a Hoe* caused a storm of controversy. The man in the picture was considered brutish and frightening by Parisian bourgeoisie. The Industrial Revolution had caused a steady exodus from French farms, and *Man with a Hoe* was interpreted as a socialist protest about the peasant's plight. Though his paintings were judged in political terms, Millet declared that he was neither a socialist nor an agitator. A religious fatalist, Millet believed that man was condemned to bear his burdens. This farmer is Everyman. His face is lit, yet composed of blots of color that give him no individuality. He is big and dirty and utterly exhausted by the backbreaking work of turning this rocky, thistle-ridden earth into a productive field like the one being worked in the distance. A tribute to dignity and courage in the face of a life of unremitting exertion, *Man with a Hoe* was long considered a symbol of the laboring class.
Provenance
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Registry history
- 1860–1862 — Recorded in the collection of J. Paul Getty Museum
Registered on Collect24
The identity of the collector is never published. Purchase information, documents and the exact location of the artwork remain private.
Ownership not yet verified on Collect24
This artwork is documented in the Global Art Registry, but no Collect24 account is linked to it as the owner. Claiming keeps this record and its Collect24 Art ID — nothing is created a second time.
Do you own or represent this artwork? Claim this artwork →Auction history
Public sale records matched to this work. Ownership is never disclosed.
Loading sale records…