From August 7 to October 19, 2025, the National Gallery in London, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Jean-François Millet’s death, presents the exhibition Millet: Life on the Land, curated by Sarah Herring. This is the first major exhibition in the United Kingdom dedicated to the artist in the last 50 years.
Some 13 works, including paintings and drawings, from British public collections will be on display. Highlights include The Sifter (circa 1847-48), part of the National Gallery collection, and The Angelus (1859), exceptionally loaned from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
The exhibition will trace Millet’s last years in Paris to his agricultural-related production, developed from 1849, when the artist moved to Barbizon, in the forest of Fontainebleau. In this context, Millet became a key figure of the Barbizon school in the 19th century. Among the works on display, two drawings depicting shepherdesses from the Cooper Gallery (Barnsley Museums - BMBC) and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, respectively, will be presented together for the first time.
The Sifter, acquired by the National Gallery in 1978, is one of the earliest works in which Millet addresses the theme of work in the fields. Presented at the 1848 Salon, it received wide acclaim. However, subsequent works exhibited in the Paris Salons provoked mixed reactions. Although Millet’s political beliefs were never clearly expressed, his works were often interpreted ideologically: some saw them as symbols of reformism, others considered them subversive. What remains evident is his deep empathy for the peasant world, which he himself described in 1851 as the “human side” that most moved him.
In The Angelus, a peasant couple is depicted reciting the traditional Angelus prayer, which recalls the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary. Recited in the morning, at noon and in the evening, this prayer marks the end of the working day in the fields. The painting, never collected by its first commissioner, has followed an exceptional path through several hands and collections. The composition of the two figures bathed in silence, silhouetted against the landscape and the warm, collected light, turned this work into a universal icon of the 20th century.
“Millet gave dignity and nobility to rural workers, depicting them in drawings and paintings with empathy and compassion,” said the curator.
Pictured: Jean-François Millet, The Angelus (1859; oil on canvas, 55.5 x 66 cm; Paris, Musée d’Orsay. Alfred Chauchard Bequest, 1910) © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. Grand Palais Rmn / Patrice Schmidt
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| At the National Gallery in London an exhibition on Jean-François Millet. On loan from Paris The Angelus |
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