7. The Angelus, an oil painting measuring 25 by 21 in.  The first drawing for the picture was sold February, 1858.  The painting was completed for exhibition in the Salon of 1859.  It was declined by the patron for whom it was intended, and finally sold to a Belgian artist in 1860, and soon afterwards to the Belgian minister.  The original price was 2000 francs.  The picture passed from one owner to another, and in 1873 was bought by J.W.  Wilson for 50,000 francs, later bringing at the Wilson sale of 1881 the sum of L6400.  In an auction sale of the Secretan collection, July, 1889, there was an immense excitement over the contest between the French government, represented by M. Proust, Director of Fine Arts, and various American dealers, who were determined to win the prize.  It was finally knocked down to M. Proust for 553,000 francs, but the French government refused to ratify the purchase, and the picture was brought to the United States.  Here the customs duty exacted was so enormous (L7000) that the picture remained only six months (the duty being waived during that period), and after being exhibited throughout the country finally returned to France, where it was purchased for L32,000 by M. Chauchard, who has the finest collection of Millets in existence.

8. Filling the Water-Bottles, a charcoal drawing, which attracted much attention when exhibited in the Millet collection of the Paris Exposition, 1889.

9. Feeding Her Birds, painted in 1860, and exhibited in Salon of 1861.  Presented by a purchaser to the Museum of Lille in 1871.

10. The Church at Greville, sketched during Millet’s visit at Greville in the summer of 1871; referred to by him, in a letter of 1872, as still in process of painting; found in his studio at the time of his death, in 1875.  The picture was bought by the French government, and is now in the Louvre, Paris.

11. The Sower, the second painting of the subject, painted in 1850, and exhibited in the Salon of 1850-51.  It is now in the Vanderbilt collection, New York.

A pencil sketch of the Sower is in the collection of Millet’s drawings, at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.[3]

12. The Gleaners, a painting first exhibited at the Salon of 1867.  It was sold to M. Binder of l’Isle Adam for 2000 francs.  In 1889 it was purchased by Madame Pommeroy for 300,000 francs, and presented to the Louvre, Paris.  A pencil drawing of the three figures is in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

13. The Milkmaid, painted in 1871 from a sketch made in Greville.  Seen in Millet’s studio in 1873 by Will Low, the American artist.

14. The Woman Churning, one of several versions of the subject, the first of which appeared in 1870.

15. The Man with the Hoe, painted in 1862 and exhibited at the Salon of 1863.  Sold to a Belgian collector, and long in Brussels.  It is now owned by Mr. W.S.  Crocker of San Francisco, Cal.