Hamlet in a Wheat Field, Vichy
A few thatched houses and trees seen beyond a wheat field. A summer landscape in pen and watercolor by Millet at Vichy, where his wife took the cure. Full commentary ↓
Couldn't load the puzzle image.
Turn on piece outlines to see piece positions on this picture too
Drag the pieces into place · When zoomed in, drag an empty spot to move around
You can also play with a keyboard — Tab to the board, thenSpace pick a piece, Arrow keys move it (with Shift for small steps),Esc deselect, R rotate a piece (Shift+R the other way)
Hamlet in a Wheat Field, Vichy is a watercolor by Jean-François Millet (1867) in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It measures 20.6 × 26.5 cm.
In the pictureThe lower half of the picture is filled with heads of wheat drawn in dense strokes of brown pen, and above them a few thatched-roof houses, dark green trees, and a pale sky can be seen. In the foreground stands a single cut tree stump. The white of the paper itself becomes the sky and the bright parts of the field, and with only brown ink and a few watercolor tints, the hot air of a summer field is conveyed.
BackgroundFrom 1866, for several years, Millet spent his summers in the spa town of Vichy for his wife's health. Though famous for his Barbizon pictures of peasants, at Vichy he made many quick sketches of empty landscapes on small sheets of paper, and this is one of them. Instead of drawing each head of wheat, he builds the texture of the field by repeating short strokes in the same direction, a striking approach.
Puzzle tipHalf the pieces are the vertical strokes of the wheat field, so watch the direction carefully. Complete the horizontal band with the houses and trees first, then fit the wheat field by sorting top from bottom by how dark the strokes are (darker at the top, fading toward the bottom). The sky pieces have no clues other than stains on the paper, so leave them for last.
- Artist
- French, Gruchy 1814–1875 Barbizon
- Classification
- Drawings
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, and watercolor
- Dimensions
- 20.6 × 26.5 cm
- Credit line
- Bequest of Nanette B. Kelekian, 2020
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
Stories about this work
- Village Sketches in Pen and Charcoal by Millet, Daubigny and Decamps
Millet, Daubigny, Decamps. Three painters known for their oils, and the country villages they set down quickly on paper. What you can see because these are not finished works.
- Why Forest Puzzles Are So Hard, and How to Choose a Landscape Painting
Landscapes with a wide sky and landscapes packed with forest are hard for different reasons. How to find reference points for each type, and how to pick a good first landscape.
