Breton

Breton, JULES ADOLPHE, born in 1827, the son of the Mayor of Courrières, was educated at St Omer and at Douai, and trained as a painter under Félix Devigne at Ghent, and in Drölling's atelier at Paris. The subjects of his earlier pictures, such as 'Misère de Désespoir' (1849), are taken from the French revolutionary period; but he soon turned to the scenes from peasant life which he has treated in a most poetic and suggestive manner, with an admirable union of style with realism. In 1853 he exhibited 'Le Retour des Moissonneurs,' and in 1855 his celebrated 'Les Glaneuses.' He is represented in the Luxembourg by 'La Bénédiction des Blés' (1857), admirable for its rendering of sunlight; 'Le Rappel des Glaneuses' (1859); and 'Le Soir' (1861). His later works are simpler in their component parts and larger in the scale of their figures, and of these 'La Fontaine' is a typical example. Breton is also known as a poet; and his brother and pupil, Emile Adelard Breton, is a distinguished landscape-painter.