La Bouillie - for Gazette des Beaux-Arts

Jean Francois Millet

A portrait of Mme. Heymann, Millet’s daughter, feeding her child gruel (porridge).

"La Bouillie" was produced at the request of Burty to illustrate his Gazette des Beaux-Arts article of 1861. Burty tells the story how on June 10,1861, Millet and Delatre's assistant created the image in four states (a total of about 19 proofs). The fourth state, like this impression, had the printing with letters "Gazette des Beaux Arts" and "Impe A Delatre, Paris" incised in the lower half of the plate.

State V was a reprinting for Roger Marx's "Etudes sur l'ecole Francais", Paris, 1903; state VI was a reprinting for Andre Marty's "L'Impriere et les Procedes de Gravure aux XXe Siecle."

There is an area of pinholes creating initials “UM” in the lower right corner of the image. There is a patch on verso and it stamped by "Université de Lisle" museum.