After his return to the United States in 1855, Hunt worked in Newport, Rhode Island, continuing to produce figure paintings reflecting the spell of Millet. Girl with Cows relates closely to the peasant images Hunt created while in France, in particular his On the Edge of the Forest, c. 1853 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), in which a woman stands next to a grazing cow in a forest glade. The image of a female peasant quietly involved in knitting or sewing, while tending farm animals, was a common theme in mid-century French art. Millet created several such images, including Peasant Woman Guarding Her Cow, 1852 (Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam), while Hunt lived at Barbizon.
Edward Wheelwright, another follower of Millet in the intimate circle around Hunt, may have been instrumental in Hunt’s creating this specific image. Wheelwright brought back to America Millet’s The Knitter, 1856 (Cincinnati Art Museum), which is the closest pictorial source for Hunt’s Girl with Cows. Unlike On the Edge of the Forest but similar to Millet’s The Knitter, Girl with Cows depicts a young peasant girl in a secluded forest glade with the thick foliage of trees forming a barrier between her and the distant field seen partially in the distance. Consequently the focus is solely on the figure and cows.
The scene is painted in dark, shadowy tones. Two cows--one brown, the other white--frame the young girl, forming contrasts of light and dark, while picking up the sweet pink and blue colors of her simple peasant garb. The white handkerchief wrapped around her head glows in the reflected yellows and pinks. Indeed, the entire scene is rich with color, even to the warm browns and greens of the darker passages.
