In his charcoal drawing “Girl with a Rake”, Bastien-Lepage shows himself to be a successor of Jean-François Millet, who could see majestic rites in hard peasant labor. This piece is centered around the subject of haymaking, which found expression in a number of the artist’s works created in the late 1870s and early 1880s. The master made his cousin Marie-Adèle Robert pose for a long period of time: her features are easily recognizable in several of his works. Although we cannot see the girl’s face, it is likely that she was the model for this drawing, too. While making preliminary and quite laconic sketches from nature, Bastien-Lepage discovered plastic motifs that later formed the basis for his detailed studies, prints, and paintings. These types of graphic works, which were distinctive in their well thought-out, “scenic” composition, had their own significance and were intended for sale.