One of Millet’s First Milkmaids Leads Bonhams 19th Century European Art sale

New York – Laitière normande (Norman milkmaid), by renowned French Artist, Jean-François Millet, is one of the highlights of Bonhams 19th Century European Paintings sale in New York on Wednesday 8 July. This painting, one of the first in the artist's series of works depicting milkmaids, has an estimate of $250,000-350,000.

Passed down for generations within a New York family, Laitière normande has not been seen by the public at large for nearly 90 years. A version is in the collection of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, England.

Bonhams specialist in 19th century painting Rocco Rich said: "It's a great pleasure to bring this wonderful and important work – one of the very earliest of Millet's celebrated milkmaids – to auction. The subject fascinated the artist throughout his life and, of course, offered him many opportunities to pay homage to his beloved native Normandy."

Additional highlights of the sale include:
- A landscape of Environs d'Arras, borde de la Scarpe by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (French, 1796-1875), oil on panel, executed circa 1860-65 (estimate: $80,000-120,000)
- A maritime painting of The battle off Lagos, August 18, 1759 by Richard Paton (London 1717-1791), oil on canvas (estimate: $20,000-30,000)
- A bronze sculpture of Jeune Fille de bou Saada by Louis Ernest Barrias (French, 1841-1905), bronze with gold-brown patina (estimate: $10,000-15,000)