Jules Breton

French Jules Breton (1827-1906) became one of the most celebrated painters of rural life in the 19th century, capturing peasant communities with warmth and dignity. Born in Courrières, a small village in the Pas-de-Calais region, he was the son of a land supervisor. His mother died when he was four, and he was raised by his father. A love of the land and respect for tradition remained central to his art throughout his life, providing the subjects for his major Salon compositions. He trained formally in Belgium under Félix de Vigne and Baron Gustave Wappers before moving to Paris in 1847 to study at the École des Beaux-Arts.

Breton exhibited "Return of the Reapers" in 1853, the first of many rural peasant scenes that made his reputation. Unlike the grittier realism of Jean-François Millet, Breton treated his peasant subjects in an Academic style traditionally reserved for classical figures, lending them nobility and grace. His "Song of the Lark" (1884), showing a young peasant woman pausing at the edge of a field, became perhaps his most beloved work. Eleanor Roosevelt declared it her favorite painting when it was crowned "the most beloved work of art in America" at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair. Breton's subjects fall into four categories: labor, rest, rural festivals, and religious festivals. He was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1886 and also wrote several books, including poetry and memoirs about his artistic life. His work was immensely popular during his lifetime in France, England, and the United States. Today, "Song of the Lark" hangs at the Art Institute of Chicago, with other works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.