The Wool-Carder

"The Wool-Carder" by Jean François Millet French, 1814-1875, is a compelling mid-19th century print created between 1855 and 1856. Executed in the challenging medium of etching on cream laid paper, this work showcases Millet’s profound commitment to depicting rural labor with stark honesty.

Produced in France during the crucial rise of the Realist movement, the artist frequently focused on the lives of peasants and laborers, striving to imbue these often-overlooked individuals with dignity and gravity. The subject, a woman engaged in the painstaking process of wool-carding, embodies the relentless manual tasks central to 19th-century agrarian and domestic economies. Millet’s technical mastery as a printmaker is highly evident in the detailed rendering of texture and the powerful use of contrasting light and shadow, which define the figure's concentration and the tactile quality of the wool fibers.

As an etching, the process allowed Millet to achieve a rich depth and intensity in the lines, characteristic of his mature graphic style. Though widely renowned for oil paintings such as The Gleaners, Millet produced a significant body of graphic prints throughout his career, cementing his versatility across mediums within the classification of printmaking. This powerful piece of French art history resides in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. As the work is well over a century old, high-quality prints and references are frequently encountered in the public domain, ensuring broad access to the profound vision of this masterful artist.