“Stop to appreciate the lively energy of these geese, captured with remarkably expressive crayon strokes. This drawing offers an intimate glimpse into 19th-century farm life, focusing on the simple beauty of ordinary animals.”
A flock of geese, rendered with quick, energetic strokes, dominates this farmyard scene. The birds cluster together, their forms suggested by the varying pressure of the crayon, creating a sense of their soft feathers and plump bodies. One goose, perhaps the gander, stands prominently in the foreground, its neck craned, surveying its surroundings. Behind the geese, the rough textures of a thatched roof and a wooden fence suggest the rustic setting, while a faint, shadowy figure in the background hints at human presence without drawing focus from the animals. This intimate drawing, made late in the artist's career, captures a fleeting moment of rural life, reflecting the Realism movement's interest in everyday subjects and the dignity of the natural world, even in its most humble forms.
- Artist
- Jean-François Millet
- Date
- 1871
- Medium
- Black crayon, on ivory wove paper (discolored to tan), laid down on white laid paper
- Location
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Dimensions
- 19.9 × 26 cm (7 7/8 × 10 1/4 in.)
- Collection
- Prints and Drawings
- Culture
- France
- Credit line
- The Art Institute of Chicago
What to Notice
Five details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

The varied pressure of the black crayon, from soft smudges to sharp lines.
The textures of the thatched roof and wooden fence behind the geese.
The way the geese's forms are suggested rather than precisely outlined.
A faint, shadowy human figure in the background, almost blending into the farmyard.
1 more detail is waiting.
See all 5 in Art Whisper →Stand in front of it and listen
The full narration walks you through Geese in a Farmyard — the story behind it, the details most visitors miss, and why it matters. Free in the Art Whisper app.
Jean-François Millet
1814–1875 · FranceJean-François Millet was a French artist and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. Millet is noted for his paintings of peasant farmers and can be categorized as part of the Realism art movement. Toward the end of his career, he became increasingly interested in painting pure landscapes. He is known best for his oil paintings but is also noted for his pastels, Conté crayon drawings, and etchings.
Further Works by Millet
Young Woman
1844 · Art Institute of Chicago
Woman Feeding Chickens
1850 · Art Institute of Chicago
The Sheepshearers
1857 · Art Institute of Chicago
Peasants Bringing Home a Calf Born in the Fields
1864 · Art Institute of Chicago
In the Auvergne
1866 · Art Institute of Chicago
The Little Shepherdess
1870 · Art Institute of Chicago
Two Men Digging
1855 · Art Institute of Chicago
The Shepherdess Knitting
1862 · Art Institute of Chicago
More from Realism
More works to explore
Beyond Millet and Realism: works from the same years, and from the other movements Geese in a Farmyard belongs to.
Same movement · Barbizon school
The Estuary Farm
Léon-Victor Dupré · 1831 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1850s–1880s
Cart with Red and White Ox
Vincent van Gogh · 1884 · Kröller-Müller Museum
Same movement · Naturalism
Portrait of a Woman, Called Héloïse Abélard
Gustave Courbet · 1850 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1850s–1880s
Barks Fleeing Before the Storm
Léon-Victor Dupré · 1870 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same movement · Naturalism
C'est peut-être bon...mais c'est égal..., from Les Hippophages, published in Le Charivari, October 23, 1856
Honoré Daumier · 1856 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1850s–1880s
Paris Street; Rainy Day
Kawabata Gyokushō · 1877 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same movement · Naturalism
Souvenir of Tuscany
Jean Baptiste Camille Corot · 1845 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1850s–1880s
The Backgammon Players
Philip Webb · 1861 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1850s–1880s
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884
Okada Saburosuke · 1884 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1850s–1880s
Apples
Gustave Courbet · 1871 · National Museum of Western Art
Same era · 1850s–1880s
Bearded Man
Mariano Fortuny Marsal · 1871 · Hispanic Society of America
Same era · 1850s–1880s
The Crystal Palace
Camille Pissarro · 1871 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1850s–1880s
The Rehearsal Onstage
Edgar Degas · 1871 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1850s–1880s
Gustave Boyer (b. 1840) in a Straw Hat
Paul Cézanne · 1870 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1850s–1880s
Impression, Sunrise
Claude Monet · 1872 · Musée Marmottan Monet
Same era · 1850s–1880s
In the Adirondacks
William Hart · 1870 · Q847508



