24 Works, Today, May 1st. is artist Jules Breton's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #120

Jules-Adolphe-Aimé-Louis Breton, French, 1827 - 1906

The Feast of Saint John, c. 1875

Oil on canvas

13 1/2 x 24 1/8 inches (34.3 x 61.3 cm)

 Philadelphia Museum of Art

Since ancient times, peasants have celebrated the longest days of summer with festivities. This dance around a fire marks the feast of Saint John the Baptist on June 24, an important occasion in France.

Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton (1 May 1827 – 5 July 1906) was a 19th-century French Naturalist painter. His paintings are heavily influenced by the French countryside and his absorption of traditional methods of painting helped make Jules Breton one of the primary transmitters of the beauty and idyllic vision of rural existence.

Jules Breton

Wine Shop-Monday (Le Lundi), c. 1858

Oil on canvas on masonite

24 5/8 x 36 9/16

Private collection

Breton was born in Courrières, a small Pas-de-Calais village. His father, Marie-Louis Breton, supervised land for a wealthy landowner. His mother died when Jules was 4 and he was brought up by his father. Other family members who lived in the same house were his maternal grandmother, his younger brother, Émile, and his uncle Boniface Breton. A respect for tradition, a love of the land and for his native region remained central to his art throughout his life and provided the artist with many scenes for his Salon compositions.

Jules Breton, 1827 - 1906

CAMPEMENT DE BOHÉMIENS, DANS LES RUINES DE L'ABBAYE DE SAINT-BAVON (GAND)/ BOHEMIAN CAMP, IN THE RUINS OF THE ABBEY OF SAINT-BAVON (GHENT)

Oil on canvas

54 1/2 by 36 3/4 in., 138.4 by 93.3 cm

Private collection

An early work of the artist, this previously unknown composition relates to a study that Breton made in 1853, The Ruins of Saint Bavo’s Abbey in Ghent (Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent) (See below).  Although the study includes only one figure among the ruins—possibly his teacher Félix de Vigne — Breton animates the present work with a camp of colorfully dressed gypsies, which he sketched from clay manikins. Even at this early stage of his career, Breton’s consideration of the arrangement of the figures anticipates the complex compositional groupings of peasants in his later Salon paintings, as in Les Communiantes (See below). More on this painting

Jules Breton, Courrières 1827 - Paris 1906

Jules-Adolphe-Aimé-Louis Breton, CAMPEMENT DE BOHÉMIENS, c. 1853

Oil on cardboard, glued to panel

 38.5 x 29.2 cm

Museum of Fine Arts Ghent

His first artistic training was at the College St. Bertin. He met the painter Félix De Vigne in 1842 who, impressed by his youthful talent, persuaded his family to let him study art. Breton left for Ghent in 1843 where he continued to study art at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1846, Breton moved to Antwerp where he took lessons with Egide Charles Gustave Wappers and spent some time copying the works of Flemish masters. In 1847, he left for Paris where he hoped to perfect his artistic training at the École des Beaux-Arts.

Jules Breton  (1827–1906)

Le pardon de Kergoat en Quéménéven, c.1891

Oil on canvas

1.22 x 2.33 m

Quimper Fine Arts Museum

Jules Breton attended Kergoat's pardon in 1890 and then painted this work, shown at the Universal Exhibitions of Chicago in 1893 and Paris in 1900

The artist represents a scene "the procession of miracles" which takes place after vespers. Together, to the sound of drums, the pilgrims, candle in hand, tour the chapel before entering it. Behind the bearers of banners (the first banner is that of the brotherhood of the dying Christ) and the penitents, who walk barefoot, a group of young women carry the statues of Saint Anne and Saint Margaret. Then the crowd advances. Near the tombs or leaning against the walls of the chapel, beggars implore alms. On the right, a young couple bow down to the passage of the statues. More on this painting

In Paris he studied in the atelier of Michel Martin Drolling. He met and became friends with several of the Realist painters, including François Bonvin and Gustave Brion and his early entries at the Paris Salon reflected their influence. His first efforts were in historical subjects: Saint Piat preaching in Gaul then, under the influence of the revolution of 1848, he represented Misery and Despair. The Salon displayed his painting Misery and Despair in 1849 and Hunger in 1850-51.

Jules Breton  (1827–1906) 

Peasant Woman Holding a Taper (a slender candle), circa 1869

Oil on canvas

Height: 30.5 cm (12 in); Width: 22.9 cm (9 in)

Brooklyn Museum

With this intimate image of an elderly woman fingering her rosary beads, Breton conveys the religious devotion associated with Brittany and its people. Placing the figure against a monochromatic background, he carefully renders the starched folds of her high white collar and head covering. As France barreled into the industrial age, Brittany’s steadfast adherence to regional costume and religious tradition remained a lure throughout the nineteenth century for both academic and avantgarde artists. More on this painting

Both paintings have since been destroyed. After Hunger was successfully shown in Brussels and Ghent, Breton moved to Belgium where he met his future wife Elodie. Elodie was the daughter of his early teacher Félix de Vigne. In 1852, Breton returned to France. But he had discovered that he was not born to be a historical painter, and he returned to the memories of nature and of the country which were impressed on him in early youth. In 1853 he exhibited Return of the Reapers, the first of numerous rural peasant scenes influenced by the works of the Swiss painter Louis Léopold Robert. 

Jules Breton

LA GLANEUSE/ The Gleaner

Oil on canvas

32 by 25 3/4 in.; 81.3 by 65.4 cm 

Private collection

Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. 

Jules Breton

The Gleaner, c. 1877

Oil on canvas

H. 2.30; W. 1.247 m. 

Museum of Fine Arts, Arras, France

Jules Breton (French, 1827–1906)

Harvesting the Oil Poppies, c. 1896

Oil on canvas

43.8 x 68.5 cm. (17.2 x 27 in.)

Private collection

Jules Breton

La Moisson des oeillettes/ . GLANEUSE D'OEILLETTES/  Harvesting the Oil Poppies

Oil on panel

10 3/8 by 13 3/4 in. 26.4 by 34.9 cm 

Private collection

The present work is an oil study for Jules Breton's large-scale Salon picture, La Moisson des oeillettes (1896) (See above).

In this study Breton focuses on the figure at the far right of the Salon picture, who is finishing her task towards the end of the working day. Applied with rapid and impressionistic brushwork, the palette evokes the waning light of evening. As Annette Bourrut Lacouture notes, “the gesture of the young woman putting pressure on the sheaf in order to tie it, her arm resting on her knee to stop it slipping while she makes a knot. More on this painting

Jules Breton

UNE SARCLEUSE/ A weeder, c. 1883

Oil on canvas

18¾ by 22⅞ in. 47.6 by 58.1 cm 

Private collection

The action of weeding consists of scratching the surface of the cultivated land to remove the herbs that you do not want to keep. It is therefore different from hoeing, which helps aerate the soil. However, the benefits of these two actions are quite similar.

Jules Breton

JEUNE FEMME DANS LES CHAMPS/ YOUNG WOMAN IN THE FIELDS, c. 1885

Oil on canvas

10 1/4 by 13 3/4 in. 26 by 34.9 cm 

Private collection

Breton's interest in peasant imagery was well established from then on and what he is best known for today. In 1854, he returned to the village of Courrières where he settled. He began The Gleaners (See above), a work inspired by seasonal field labor and the plight of the less fortunate who were left to gather what remained in the field after the harvest. The Gleaners received a third class medal, which launched Breton's career. He received commissions from the State and many of his works were purchased by the French Art Administration and sent to provincial museums. His 1857 painting Blessing of the Wheat (See below), Artois was exhibited at the Salon the same year and won a second class medal.

Jules Breton  (1827–1906)

La bénédiction des blés en Artois/ The Blessing of the wheat in Artois, c. 1857

Oil on canvas

Height: 128 cm (50.3 in); Width: 318 cm (10.4 ft)

Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Arras

This painting was a mark of official recognition for the still youthful artist, and the work was even purchased by the State for the Musée du Luxembourg. It has to be said that this portrayal of rustic life is very pleasant compared to Millet's more Realist vision.

The scene depicts a Rogation procession which takes place three days before Ascension. In the countryside around Courrières, Breton's native village, young girls wearing their first communion dresses, clergy and local dignitaries, walk around the fields to attract Heaven's blessing on future harvests. The scene highlights the important role of Christianity in rural life. More on this painting

Breton married Elodie de Vigne in 1858.

Jules Breton

Le Soir/ The evening, c. 1860

Oil on canvas

H. 90.0; L. 111.6 cm.

Orsay museum, Paris, France

He continued to exhibit throughout the 1870s and into the 1880s and 1890s and his reputation grew. His poetic renderings of single peasant female figures in a landscape, posed against the setting sun, remained very popular, especially in the United States. Since his works were so popular, Breton often produced copies of some of his images. He was extremely popular in his own time, exhibiting numerous compositions at the Salons that were widely available as engravings. He was one of the best known painters of his period in his native France as well as England and the United States.

Jules Breton  (1827–1906)

The Communicants, c. 1884

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Breton gives a broad view of the spiritual procession, affording full consideration to the atmosphere, the natural and built environment, as well as people engaged in various roles. It is a spring morning, with lilacs in bloom and birds fluttering above the village’s thatched roofs. The crisp sunlight casts shadows through the village, and illuminates the procession of children in white gossamer veils as they wind their way through the village towards the church. More on this painting

Breton, Jules (Courrières, 01–05–1827 - Paris, 05–07–1906), painter

The communicants at Courrières, c. 1855

Oil on canvas

Petit Palais, Museum of Fine Arts of the City of Paris

n 1886, Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, bid $45,000 at a New York auction for Breton's work The Communicants (1884) (See above). At that time, the price was the 2nd highest price paid for a painting by a living artist. This same painting changed hands again in 2016 and commanded $1.27 million. That figure is very close to the 1886 auction price after adjusting for inflation. Also in 1886, Breton was elected a member of the Institut de France on the death of Baudry.

Jules Breton, 1827 - 1906

Jeune Mère allaitant son enfant/ Young mother breastfeeding her child, c. 1873

Oil on canvas 

17 3/4 by 12 5/8 in., 45.1 by 32.1 cm

Private collection

Completed in 1873, the mother and child of the present work are featured in a larger composition, Le Repos des faneuses, completed the same year. Jeune Mère allaitant son enfant was first intended as a study, though it was later fully realized, signed and dated by the artist. More on this painting

In 1887 New York art dealer M. Knoedler, ordered two paintings from Breton, commissioned Charles Albert Waltner to etch the grand Salon work the Recall of the Gleaners (1859) (See below) and then held a special exhibition of his works in 1888.

Jules Breton (1827-1906)

Calling in the Gleaners, c. 1859

Oil on canvas

H. 90; W. 176 cm

Grand Palais (Musée d'Orsay) / Hervé

With Calling in the Gleaners, Jules Breton represented an ordinary scene of peasant life in Courrières. Several elements in the painting situate the scene at dusk: the thin crescent moon on the upper left, the presence of the rural policeman leaning against a milestone with his hands around his mouth like a speaking trumpet as he calls in the gleaners.

Despite the presence of a few more realistic details such as the women's threadbare, ragged garments or bare feet, the painter has completely idealised the scene. The noble attitudes, the haughty bearing of the peasant women, and the frieze-like arrangement of the figures confer an air of nobility and poetry.

This painting was much admired at the Salon of 1859 and even caught the eye of the Empress Eugenie. The Empress arranged for its purchase on Napoleon III's Civil List. More on this painting

Jules Breton, FRENCH, 1827-1906 

LE RETOUR DES MOISSONNEURS/ THE RETURN OF THE HARVESTERS

Oil on canvas

Private collection

In 1889 Breton was made commander of the Legion of Honor, and in 1899 foreign member of the Royal Academy of London. His brother Emile, an architect by training, and his daughter Virginie were also painters.

Jules Adolphe Breton

 A Spring by the Sea, c.1866

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Jules Breton

The Washerwomen of the Breton Coast

Oil on canvas

53 1/4 by 79 1/4 in. (alt: 135 by 201 cm) 

Private collection

Jules Breton

At the fountain, c. 1892

Oil on canvas

H. x W .: 90.5 x 68.5 cm

Quimper Fine Arts Museum

Jules Breton

Jeune paysanne à la cruche sur fond de mer/ Young Peasant Woman with a Jug by the Sea, c. 1890

Oil on canvas

16¼ x 13 in 

Private collection

Jules Breton, 1827-1906

LA FALAISE/ THE CLIFF

Oil on canvas 

32 1/8 by 46 1/2 in., 81.6 by 118.1 cm

Private collection

Jules Breton visited Brittany for the first time in 1865, staying in and around the Baie de Douarnenez, one of throngs of travelers to France’s northwestern province, curious to experience firsthand its distinct region and its people who held firmly to the language, religion and cultural traditions of their sixth century Celtic ancestors.  The artist was immediately captivated by the area's sandy beaches, rocky coastline, and the ever-changing Atlantic sweeping across the bays– the shifting blue-green of summer waters are evocatively captured in his luminous composition. 

Soon after these first works in Brittany, Breton would sharpen his focus to a single figure absorbed in a task or moment of reflection, naturalistically painted against the sea on a large scale. More on this painting

Breton was essentially a painter of rustic life, especially in the province of Artois, which he quit only three times for short excursions: in 1864 to Provence, and in 1865 and 1873 to Brittany, whence he derived some of his happiest studies of religious scenes. His numerous subjects may be divided generally into four classes: labour, rest, rural festivals and religious festivals. More on Jules Breton

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