JEAN-FRANCOIS MILLET (1814-1875) A beggar woman... Lot 37

JEAN-FRANCOIS MILLET (1814-1875) A beggar woman and her child (recto); Study of a reclining woman: Agar (verso) charcoal on blue paper charcoal on blue paper 33.4 x 24.4 cm (13 1/8 x 9 5/8 in) Footnotes: 让-弗朗索瓦-米勒(1814-1875) 乞丐和她的孩子(正面); 一个躺着的叫Agar的女人(反面) 炭笔画，蓝底纸 Provenance Stamp of the workshop of Jean-François Millet (L. 1460b). Victor Desfossés (1835-1899); his sale, Paris, April 26, 1899, lot 85 (750 francs). C. Malon de Bercy. L. de Harlay. With Claude Aubry, Paris. Exhibitions Paris, Grand Palais and London, Hayward Gallery, 1975-1976, Jean-François Millet, no. 27, ill. Paris, Didier Imbert Fine Art, '20 ans de Passion' Alain Delon, Dessins, Printemps 1990, no. 54, ill. Bibliography L. Soullié, Les grands peintres aux ventes publiques, Jean-François Millet, Paris, 1900, p. 185. The date of execution of this drawing can be deduced from the verso. The extended figure is, in fact, a study for the painting of Agar and Ishmael, commissioned by the French government in 1848, but never completed, probably due to Millet's departure for Barbizon. It is now in the Mesdag Museum in The Hague. Another study for the figure of Agar, more finished and tiled, was at the Galerie Nathalie Motte Masselinck in Paris in 2020 (cat. Portfolio). On the reverse of the latter drawing are various studies, including a mother carrying a basket, surrounded by children, whose composition, although inverted, is very similar to the front of the sheet in the Delon collection. Both drawings feature a cart in the background. According to Robert Herbert, in the catalog of the 1975-1976 exhibition, the present drawing is the work by Millet that most evokes the events of 1848. The date of execution of this drawing can be deduced thanks to the verso. The extended figure is, in fact, a study for the painting of Hagar and Ishmael, commissioned by the French government in 1848, but never completed, probably because of Millet's departure for Barbizon, now at the Mesdag Museum in The Hague. Another study for the figure of Hagar, more finished and tiled, formerly at the Galerie Nathalie Motte Masselinck in Paris in 2020 (cat. Portfolio). On the verso of the latter drawing are various studies, including a mother carrying a basket, surrounded by children, whose composition, although inverted, is very similar to the front of the sheet in the Delon collection. In the background of both drawings a cart can be seen. According to Robert Herbert, in the catalog of the 1975-1976 exhibition, the present drawing is the work by Millet that most evokes the events of 1848. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com