His paintings of hardworking peasants earned him great fame in his lifetime and were especially popular in the United States. He tried his hand at historical paintings but, after finding his true subject in scenes of rural life, he moved back to Courrières. Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton, around 1890Īfter the young Breton’s talent emerged, he studied art in Belgium and France, copying the Old Masters and becoming friends with some Realist painters. His father owned land, worked as assistant judge and mayor, and managed the estate of a wealthy landowner. He was born in 1827 in Courrières, a small commune-similar to a township or incorporated municipality-in Normandy. The ArtistĪlthough he loved the French countryside and made his reputation painting scenes of rustic life, Jules Breton did not grow up as a peasant. And several decades ago, when Bill Murray was a young actor struggling through a low point in his life, the sight of the peasant woman in a field at sunrise inspired him to keep moving forward. In 1934, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt unveiled the artwork in a ceremony at the museum as “America’s Best Loved Picture,” according to a contest sponsored by the Chicago Daily News, and called it her favorite painting. In 1915, Author Willa Cather titled her famous novel after the painting, using it in a key scene where her protagonist, an aspiring singer, sees the painting in the Art Institute and has an artistic awakening.
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