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Lot Essay
In an era of growing industrialization and urbanization, Jules Breton's paintings celebrated the rich heritage of rural France. The people and environs of his native village of Courrires served as inspiration in his paintings from the 1850s onwards and, for a period in the 1860s, as muses for his sonnets.
Courrires, in the province of Artois, was bounded by the Souchez River and was primarily a peat and agricultural town. Breton's family could trace their roots in the town from as far back as 1704. Though his family was prosperous, it was the poor peasants who worked the land whom he favored as subjects for his painting. He used women and children from Courrires as models and set them against the backdrop of the town as it appeared across the plain. The prominent belfry tower which was built by Charles V in 1532 is distinguishable in many of his paintings and was a celebrated landmark. In describing his technique, Breton wrote: "I went to the fields to look for subjects and effects, and to plan new pictures, taking with me a wild little country girl, who carried my box, and from time to time posed for me" (J. Breton, The Life of an Artist, New York, 1892, p. 332).
Breton's first official distinction came in 1855 for The Gleaners (1854, National Gallery of Ireland) and was significant because it was also his first ambitious composition to be set in Courrires. This was followed quickly with The Blessing of the Wheat in Artois (1857, Muse d'Orsay) which earned him a silver medal at the Salon and was purchased by the State. Throughout the ensuing decades Breton received numerous honors for his paintings, culminating in his being elected a member of the Institute of France in 1886. His works were frequently praised by the art critics for their poetic qualities and their pleasing imagery found an eager audience with collectors.
Breton was at the height of his career when he painted Les Amies. In 1872 he had received the medal of honor at the Salon for Girl Tending Cows (1871, Private Collection). Les Amies was painted in 1873 and exhibted that same year in the prestigious Universal Exhibition in Vienna. It is not insignificant that it appeared again at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1878. With Les Amies one can see Breton's technique at its best. A superb draftsman and colorist, he sets the mood and narrative of the painting with subtle gesture and muted color. The peasant women are captured by the viewer as they share a private moment, walking along a country path. They appear intent on conversation and unaware of our presence. Breton shows them in simple clothes with bare feet, carrying the tools they use to harvest the wheat. He does not dwell on the obvious hardship of their lives, but instead presents an image of their innate nobility through their confident stance and beautiful features. Breton pays careful attention to the depiction of every detail of the setting so as to enhance the sense of verisimiltude. As Breton himself wrote, "Truly fine execution does not parade itself; it effaces itself humbly to give place to the image it represents." (ibid., p. 294)
The image of three peasant women enjoined in conversation may have been inspired by classical models and was a compositional device he had used in other works such as The Reapers (1860, location unknown) that he described as "... a harvest scene in the foreground of which is a company of peasant women, coarse in person and attire, but in movement, action and sentiment equal to the impersonation of the Greek sculptors." (Quoted in H. Sturges, Jules Breton and the French Rural Tradition, Omaha, 1982, p. 72) The figural grouping of Les Amies is also found in Returning From the Fields (1871, Walters Art Gallery), The Reapers (1860, location unknown), Return From the Fields (1857, location unknown) and In the Poppy Field, Evening (date unknown, location unknown).
Annette Bourrut-Lacouture has confirmed the authenticity of this painting.
Courrires, in the province of Artois, was bounded by the Souchez River and was primarily a peat and agricultural town. Breton's family could trace their roots in the town from as far back as 1704. Though his family was prosperous, it was the poor peasants who worked the land whom he favored as subjects for his painting. He used women and children from Courrires as models and set them against the backdrop of the town as it appeared across the plain. The prominent belfry tower which was built by Charles V in 1532 is distinguishable in many of his paintings and was a celebrated landmark. In describing his technique, Breton wrote: "I went to the fields to look for subjects and effects, and to plan new pictures, taking with me a wild little country girl, who carried my box, and from time to time posed for me" (J. Breton, The Life of an Artist, New York, 1892, p. 332).
Breton's first official distinction came in 1855 for The Gleaners (1854, National Gallery of Ireland) and was significant because it was also his first ambitious composition to be set in Courrires. This was followed quickly with The Blessing of the Wheat in Artois (1857, Muse d'Orsay) which earned him a silver medal at the Salon and was purchased by the State. Throughout the ensuing decades Breton received numerous honors for his paintings, culminating in his being elected a member of the Institute of France in 1886. His works were frequently praised by the art critics for their poetic qualities and their pleasing imagery found an eager audience with collectors.
Breton was at the height of his career when he painted Les Amies. In 1872 he had received the medal of honor at the Salon for Girl Tending Cows (1871, Private Collection). Les Amies was painted in 1873 and exhibted that same year in the prestigious Universal Exhibition in Vienna. It is not insignificant that it appeared again at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1878. With Les Amies one can see Breton's technique at its best. A superb draftsman and colorist, he sets the mood and narrative of the painting with subtle gesture and muted color. The peasant women are captured by the viewer as they share a private moment, walking along a country path. They appear intent on conversation and unaware of our presence. Breton shows them in simple clothes with bare feet, carrying the tools they use to harvest the wheat. He does not dwell on the obvious hardship of their lives, but instead presents an image of their innate nobility through their confident stance and beautiful features. Breton pays careful attention to the depiction of every detail of the setting so as to enhance the sense of verisimiltude. As Breton himself wrote, "Truly fine execution does not parade itself; it effaces itself humbly to give place to the image it represents." (ibid., p. 294)
The image of three peasant women enjoined in conversation may have been inspired by classical models and was a compositional device he had used in other works such as The Reapers (1860, location unknown) that he described as "... a harvest scene in the foreground of which is a company of peasant women, coarse in person and attire, but in movement, action and sentiment equal to the impersonation of the Greek sculptors." (Quoted in H. Sturges, Jules Breton and the French Rural Tradition, Omaha, 1982, p. 72) The figural grouping of Les Amies is also found in Returning From the Fields (1871, Walters Art Gallery), The Reapers (1860, location unknown), Return From the Fields (1857, location unknown) and In the Poppy Field, Evening (date unknown, location unknown).
Annette Bourrut-Lacouture has confirmed the authenticity of this painting.