A Girl Minding Geese

A Girl Minding Geese by Jean François Millet French, 1814-1875, is a significant print created between 1855 and 1856, exemplifying the artist's dedication to scenes of rural life. The work is executed using the delicate intaglio process of drypoint in brown ink, printed onto fine ivory wove China paper. This choice of paper, coupled with the rich brown tonality, provides the print with a warm, evocative depth.

Millet’s subject matter focuses intently on a young peasant girl diligently performing her daily task of tending to a small flock of geese. The composition is intimate yet expansive, suggesting the vastness of the French countryside while maintaining focus on the figure’s humble labor. Unlike engraving, drypoint requires the artist to scratch directly into a metal plate, resulting in a unique burr of metal flanking the line. When inked, this burr holds extra pigment, giving the etched line a characteristic soft, fuzzy texture highly valued for its atmospheric qualities.

This print belongs to a period when Millet, a central figure of the Barbizon School, was increasingly focused on elevating the depiction of agricultural workers and peasants into serious art, moving beyond simple genre scenes toward profound commentary on human existence and toil. Through his prints and paintings, Millet immortalized the dignity and resilience he perceived in the working class of France. The artist explored printmaking extensively to disseminate his visions of rural labor. This powerful representation of 19th-century peasant life is now part of the renowned collection of prints held by the Art Institute of Chicago, offering scholars and the public access to a key moment in French realism. Images of this important drypoint are often found today in the public domain.