Jean-Francois-Millet, Haystacks: Autumn, 1874, Oil on Canvas, 33 1/2″ x 43 3/8″
“This picture is from a series depicting the four seasons commissioned in 1868 by the industrialist Frédéric Hartmann. Millet worked on the paintings intermittently for the next seven years. In Autumn, with the harvest finished, the gleaners have departed and the sheep are left to graze. Beyond the haystacks lie the plain of Chailly and the rooftops of Barbizon. The loose, sketchlike finish of this work is characteristic of Millet’s late style: patches of the dark lilac-pink ground color are deliberately exposed, and the underdrawing is visible, particularly in the outlines of the haystacks and the sheep.”
Jean-Francois Millet
view from a burrow 
One of my favorite paintings… Well one of my favorite paintings is The Angelus by Millet… Dali got deep into it and found a hidden grave on it !… Sending you all my best wishes!. Aquileana 😀
oh wow, very interesting, I look at “The Angelus” differently now, I can’t quite find the grave yet, but it makes me look at the basket as both something to carry potatoes, and the basket of a child, perhaps that has died. I saw the Haystacks painting at the Met about 6 months ago, and since, it continues to emerge in my mind. There is something angelic about the three haystacks, the pieces of hay ascending – it also made me think of the holy trinity. There is something about their colossal size too, maybe in relation to the way the perspective is drawn with the sheep. Anyway, yes, Millet is a an astonishing painter. Nice to hear from you!