Footnotes

Provenance
Probably from the artist to coll. Tesse (a letter from Jean Breton to Tesse, dated 26 June 1857, makes reference to a work he is selling for 500frs).
Mrs A.G. Gentil.
With Francis Petit Galerie, Paris, no. 10 (sold 9 May 1865 for 1,600frs, with the title Jeune Paysanne assise jouant avec des hannetons).
Redon collection.
Private collection, UK.

Several small paintings of harvested fields with figures appear in Jules Breton's work as early as 1851, during escapes in the woods of Meudon, outside the Drolling studio, thus well before the presentation at the Salon of 1853 of The Return of the Harvesters and then in 1855 of the painting The Gleaners Courrières, Pas de Calais. From this time on, the artist's attention is often devoted to the observation of lonely young girls and women in the open air in rural landscapes around Courrières. Some of them were later included in Salon paintings or, like the present lot (or The Girl with Poppies, 1855, Private collection), they are fully worked compositions in their own right.

Jules Breton seizes the opportunity of a moment of rest for the young peasant woman: seated in profile, she observes cockchafer beetles engaged in their activities and in their flight, balanced on a tree branch that she holds in her hand. In a simple and natural attitude, she is absorbed with attention and, at the same time, gives the impression of pursuing her dream. Her coloured scarf tied on the nape of her neck catches the light that spreads around in a clear palette of green and soft pink accentuating the serenity of the scene. The farm is not far away but is hidden behind the trees - a slight reminder of Corot - the spring field is dotted with flowers and wild grasses that can be seen very clearly in the foreground.

Let us note, moreover, that with the purchase of La Bénédiction des Blés en Artois by Neuwerkerque for the Musée du Luxembourg, the same year, Jules Breton suddenly had the means to spend a fortnight in the Barbizon forest, and his admiration for Theodore Rousseau (1812-1867) and Charles Jacque (1813-1894) pushed him to make this dream come true, as well as Jean-François Millet's (1814-1875) powerful first painting at the Salon of 1853, Le Repas des Moissonneurs.

We are grateful to Annette Bourrut Lacouture for compiling this catalogue entry.