Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Miller’s Wife (La femme du meunier)

Attributed to Alexandre Cabanel

Date

19th century

Medium

Charcoal, crayon, and white chalk on gray laid paper

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This refined study of a woman in an old flour mill presents her with the dignity that one expects in a realist drawing. The figure is calm, strong, self-satisfied—almost monumental. As she takes a break from operating the grinding mill behind her, she is bathed in a warm light filtering in from the right. The drawing is signed Alex Cabanel, as was the practice of Alexandre Cabanel, one of the most successful artists in nineteenth-century Europe. Apart from his activity as a portraitist, he normally produced historical and mythological pictures—genres diametrically opposed to Realism. Occasionally a drawing or painting like this one surfaces that suggests Cabanel dipped his toe into the realist pool. It is also possible that one of his many students hoped to get a better price for their work by applying the famous artist’s name. France

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