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Artist or Maker: u - JULES BRETON, French, 1827-1906
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Dimensions: 38 by 54 in.
96.5 by 137.2 cm
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Provenance: SOLD ON BEHALF OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITY, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE IN ORDER TO BENEFIT ITS SCHOLARSHIP FUND
M. Knoedler & Co., Paris, 1896
George C. Thomas, Philadelphia (until 1924)
James H. Clark
John Levy Galleries, New York
Findlay Galleries, Chicago
Morrie A. Moss, Memphis, Tennessee (until 1953)
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Literature: Hollister Sturges, Jules Breton and the French Rural Tradition, exhibition catalogue, Omaha, 1982, p. 133
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Notes: Jules Breton painted Dans la Plaine for the 1896 Salon, where it was applauded by both critics and visitors alike. As was the case with works by Bouguereau and Gérôme, Breton's paintings were avidly collected by Americans, and Dans la Plaine found a new home in Philadelphia in the collection of George C. Thomas. Rarely does an artist describe his own work in detail and even more unusual is for a letter to accompany a painting as it changes hands over the years, but this was the case with Dans la Plaine. Jules Breton, who also was an accomplished writer and poet, wrote a letter to George Thomas on July 4, 1896, which may be translated from the French as follows:
Dear Sir,
I am very much flattered to learn that you have become the owner of my picture "Dans le Plaine". I am happy to be able to tell you that at the Salon of the Champs Elysées, it was unanimously classed by the opinion of the artists and the public among the best of my works. It has been on my part the object of particular care and I have rarely experienced so much pleasure in painting as during its execution.
It is the hour of lunch. Under a threatening sky in the shadow of a stack which they are constructing, the peasants are lying down or sitting in the attitudes of repose. A young girl whose rose hood resembles a halo, brings the frugal repast in a basket which the farmer's wife distributes to the workers. The farmer a little further off, arrives smoking his pipe, leaving behind him his white horse and cart loaded with wheat.
The plain stretches out lost to view in the sun. It is this plain that I have described in my last book "Un peintre paysan", which I have the honor to offer you. Will you accept my dear sir the expression of my sentiments the most distinguished.
Jules Breton
4 July 1896
The placement of the figures in Dans la Plaine is the culmination of a compositional arrangement that Breton first explored in the 1870's, as exemplified in his 1874 Salon entry The Cliff, where a young shepherdess is shown from behind, reclining on a seaside bluff. This is in contrast to earlier works, where Breton favored placing his figures in frieze-like arrangements. This new splayed, almost spoke-like composition is an important characteristic in Dans la Plaine, where two of the central figures are shown posed diagonally. We see the face of one shepherdess, but the face of the other is completely hidden, thereby forcing us to examine her interesting pose and placement within the setting. Additionally, a feature of Breton's later works is his interest in direct sunlight, which is often painted as a brilliant sunburst. In Dans la Plaine, Breton captures the midday sun, casting its shadows in the field, its rays hidden behind the clouds, creating an other-worldly pink glow to the sheer pink scarf of the young worker. This new interest differs from Breton's earlier desire to place his subjects in the rose and orange reflections of sunset.
During his lifetime, many of Breton's most important paintings ended up in the collections of America's richest citizens. His works decorated the mansions of of William T. Walters, John Taylor Johnson, George Whitney, Henry Probasco, George Seney, William Henry Vanderbilt and Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, to name a small sampling of the American collectors who prized Breton's work. The last collector of Dans la Plaine was a man named Morrie Moss from Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Moss was known for his philanthropy during his lifetime, where many charities and institutions benefited from his generosity. He gave the painting to Christian Brothers University in 1953. Please see lots (21 and 127).
This painting will be sold with an original letter from Jules Breton to George C. Thomas dated July 4, 1896.
We would like to thank Annette Bourrut-Lacouture for providing additional cataloguing information for this lot.
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