LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on canvas

Measurements:

48.62 in. (123.50 cm.) (height) by 75.39 in. (191.50 cm.) (width)

Markings:

signed Jules Breton and dated 1884 (lower left)

Exhibited:

Paris, Salon, 1884, no. 355. Montreal, 1887. London, Guildhall, 1898, no. 20. Perth, Perth Museum and Art Gallery, 1947-1988, on extended loan. Newcastle upon Tyne, Polytechnic Art Gallery; Sheffield, Mappin Art Gallery; Paisley, Paisley Art Gallery; Aberdeen, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Peasantries: 19th Century French and British Pictures of Peasants and Field Workers, October 10, 1981 - March 27, 1982. Omaha, Joslyn Art Museum, Jules Breton and the French Rural Tradition, 1982-1983, no. 45. Montreal, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montreal, Le goût de l'art: les collectionneurs montréalais: 1880-1920, December 1989-February 1990, no. 5

Literature:

Bilingske Tildende, Copenhagen , April 30, 1884. Daily Telegraph, London, May 1, 1884. Darcel, Le Journel de Rouen, May 3, 1884. Dictionnaire Véron, May 7, 1884 . Hustin , Le Moniteur des Arts, May 8, 1884. La Presse Illustrée, May 11, 1884. El Impartial Boulevardier, Madrid, May 12, 1884. Montlandry , La Dépêche, Lille, May 15, 1884. Durcos, Le Sémaphore, Marseille, May 16, 1884. Queen, London, May 17, 1884. Darcours , Journal Illustré, May 18, 1884. Le Francais, May 19, 1884. The Scotsman, May 21, 1884 . The Academy, May 24, 1884, p. 410. L'Univers Illustré, May 26, 1884. "The Salon, Paris," The Athenaeum, May 31, 1884, p. 702. Henri Houssaye, Le Salon de 1884, Revue des deux Mondes, May-June 1884, p. 581-2. Kölnische Zeitung, Cologne, June 3, 1884. The Times, London, June 3, 1884, p. 8. L'Art Moderne, Brussels, June 8, 1884. Besnos, Salon des Artistes de 1884, July 11, 1884. "The Paris Salon," The Art Journal, 1884, p. 223. Paul Mantz, "Le Salon: IV," Le Temps, May 1884. The London Times, June 3, 1884, p. 8. Emmanuel Ducros, "Jules Breton," L'Artiste, September 1885, p. 223-4. Emile Durand-Greville, "L'Art aux États-Unis," Gazette des Beaux Arts, XXIV, September 1886, p. 449. Lionel G. Robinson, "French Art," The Art Journal, London, March 1886, p. 66, illustrated. Clarence Cook, Art and Artists of our Time, New York, 1888, p. 237. Clara Harrison Stranahan, A History of French Paintings from its Earliest to its Latest Practice, New York, 1888, p. 383-5. Mélodie Stevens, "Le chant des communiantes," Bordeaux Journal, November 12, 1892. Garnet Smith, "Jules Breton: Painter of Peasants," The Magazine of Art, no. 16, 1893, p. 412, illustrated p. 415. Les Journal des Arts, July 14, 1894, the Fouillon engraving illustrated. Pierre Gauthiez, "Un Peintre écrivaint: Jules Breton," Revue de l'art ancien et moderne, vol. 4, Paris, 1898, p. 210-3, illustrated . Doucet, La chanson des choses, Paris 1899, illustrated p. 211. Robert de la Sizeranne, 'Les paysans au Salon de 1899," Revue des Deux Mondes, vol. 153, May 1899, p. 421. Marius Vachon, Jules Breton, Paris, 1899, p. 101-2, 145, illustrated p. 69. Annales Politiques et Littéraires, May 24, 1903, no. 1039, p. 321, 328. Auguste Marguillier, "Review of 'Jules Breton' by Marius Vachon," Gazette des beaux-arts, 1899, no. 21, p. 86-8. Jules Breton, La Peinture, Paris, 1904, p. 38-41. "Breton," Masters in Art, Boston, 1907, pp. 39, 41, illustrated pl. 7. Aaron Schaffer, "Jules Breton, Parnassien," Modern Language Notes, Baltimore, vol. 47, December 1932, p. 512. Kenneth McConkey, Peasantries, exh. cat., Newcastle Upon Tyne, 1981, p. 23, illustrated fig. 13 and pl. 1. Hollister Sturges, Jules Breton and the French Rural Tradition, exh. cat., Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, 1982, p. 99, no. 46, illustrated p. 101. Annette Bourrut Lacouture, "'Les Communiantes' (1884) de Jules Breton et le thème de la procession: genèse d'une oeuvre d'après des documents inédits," Bulletin de la Société de l'histoire de l'art Français, Paris, 1985, p. 175-200, illustrated p. 276. Annette Bourrut Lacouture, Jules Breton, Painter of Peasant Life, Museée des beaux-arts, Arras, Museée des beaux-arts, Quimper, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, exh. cat., Paris, 2002, p. 195-6, illustrated p. 194

Provenance:

Samuel P. Avery (acquired directly from the artist in 1884). Mary J. Morgan (acquired from the above in 1884 and sold; her sale, American Art Association, New York, 1886, lot 235). Donald A. Smith, later Lord Strathcona, Montreal and London (acquired at the above sale). Thence by descent through the family (until 1988). Sale: Christie's, London, June 24, 1988, lot 86, illustrated. Joey and Toby Tanenbaum, Toronto (acquired at the above sale). Sale: Sotheby's, New York, May 23, 1996, lot 45, illustrated. Acquired at the above sale