Woman Peeling a Potato

Date

probably 1870s

Creator

<span>The subject of the Snite drawing--a woman peeling vegetables--is in keeping with the theme of rural life so often central to Jacque's and Jean-Fran<span style="font-size:13pt">çois</span> Millet's art. Yet this finished drawing of a solitary female figure engrossed in her everyday, humble task is rather atypical for Jacque. The sensitivity of the draftsmanship and the contemplative mood are at variance with the artist's usually direct and robust Realist style. The reddish brown chalk that adds a note of color to the woman's face also seems an unusually refined touch, perhaps more in line with the subtleties of a much earlier tradition of French draftsmanship. In many respects, the study resembles Millet's drawn or painted images of women toiling in their homes or in the fields. Jacque's female figure, however, is both more feminine and more attractive than Millet's powerfully universal peasant types. Unfortunately, the study cannot yet be related to any specific known project in Jacque's oeuvre.<br/><br/>from Spiro, Nineteenth-Century French Drawings (Notre Dame, 2007)</span>