Visitors to London’s National Gallery will have a rare opportunity to experience the first UK exhibition dedicated to influential French artist Jean-François Millet in almost half a century, opening autumn 2025.
“Millet: Life on the Land” coincides with the 150th anniversary of the artist’s death and will feature approximately 15 paintings and drawings, primarily sourced from British public collections. The exhibition offers both Londoners and tourists a chance to discover an artist whose works were eagerly collected by British enthusiasts during the late 19th century.
The undisputed centerpiece of the exhibition will be the extraordinary loan of “L’Angélus” (1857-59) from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. This iconic painting, which depicts two peasants praying in a field at dusk, became one of the world’s most recognizable artworks and was famously obsessed over by Salvador Dalí.
“The exceptional loan of L’Angélus, Millet’s most celebrated work, will focus the public’s attention on this fascinating artist – a painter of rural life, who was sometimes accused of being a dangerous anarchist,” said Sir Gabriele Finaldi, National Gallery Director.
The exhibition will trace Millet’s artistic journey from the late 1840s through his move to the village of Barbizon in the Fontainebleau Forest in 1849, where he became a leading figure of the 19th-century Barbizon school. Visitors will discover how Millet portrayed rural workers with exceptional dignity and grandeur, conferring upon them a status typically reserved for historical figures.
Highlights include the National Gallery’s own “The Winnower” (about 1847-48), “The Sower” (1847-48) from the National Museum in Cardiff, and “The Wood Sawyers” (1850-52) from the Victoria and Albert Museum. The exhibition will also bring together two drawings of shepherdesses from the Cooper Gallery in Barnsley and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, displayed together for the first time.
The final section examines Millet’s depictions of wood gathering, an activity typically performed by the most vulnerable members of rural communities and one that was heavily regulated by authorities at the time.
Sarah Herring, Associate Curator of Post 1800 Paintings, noted that “Millet endowed rural labourers with dignity and nobility, depicting them in drawings and paintings with empathy and compassion.”
This exhibition presents an excellent opportunity for visitors to London to experience masterpieces by an artist who sympathetically chronicled rural life during a period of significant social change in 19th-century France.
“Millet: Life on the Land” will be on display at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, easily accessible via Charing Cross station and numerous bus routes. Visitors planning their London itinerary for autumn 2025 should consider including this significant exhibition in their travel plans. The exhibition will be free (and admission to the gallery is free as well).