Focus on Starry Night (Millet) and discuss the History.
In 1849, Millet left Paris, a city that he had lived in for almost a decade. He moved to Barbizon, a small village on the edge of the Fontainebleau forest in the northern part of the center of France, due to a cholera outbreak and political and social unrest caused by the Revolutions of 1848.However, it was not until after his death in 1875 when it appeared on the markets. It first appeared in Hôtel Drouot, a famous auction house in Paris, on May 10-11, 1875. It later surfaced again in Galerie Goupil, a leading art dealership in France in the 19th century that specialized in auctioning off paintings and sculptures. From 1878 onwards, it was in the possession of George Lillie Craik and his descendants. Craik was a Scottish writer and literary critic who lived in London at the time of this acquisition. The painting was passed throughout his family, eventually ending up with J.S. Knapp Fisher. From him, it was purchased by the Yale University Art Gallery through the use of the Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913 fund. It is now in their permanent collection.
Barbizon George Lillie Craik Hôtel Drouot Yale University Art Gallery