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The Song of the Lark

The Song of the Lark
Oil on canvas, 1884 Art Institute of Chicago

Early life and training=

Breton was born on 1 May 1827 in Courrières, a small Pas-de-Calais village. His father, Marie-Louis Breton, supervised land for a wealthy landowner. His mother died when Jules was 4 and he was brought up by his father. Other family members who lived in the same house were his maternal grandmother, his younger brother, Émile, and his uncle Boniface Breton. A respect for tradition, a love of the land and for his native region remained central to his art throughout his life and provided the artist with many scenes for his Salon compositions.

The Song of the Lark
Oil on canvas, 1884 Art Institute of Chicago

Posthumous fame=

Arguably, Breton's fame peaked posthumously in 1934 at The Chicago World's Fair. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt unveiled The Song of the Lark as the winner of the Chicago Daily News contest to find the "most beloved work of art in America". Further, she declared the painting as being her personal favorite painting. "At this moment The Song of the Lark had come to represent the popular American artistic taste on a national level." Of course, since The Song of the Lark was recently given to the Art Institute of Chicago this particular work of Breton had an advantage over Breton works at other American museums. Breton, however, was not universally appreciated. The American art establishment of the 1930s considered works of Breton to be lowbrow and the director of the Art Institute of Chicago itself argued for the removal of the work from display. It was not until the later half of the twentieth century, that Breton's social realism became more respectable again.

To a degree, one can argue that posthumously Breton's fame fell victim to the success during his lifetime. His most detailed works either went straight into museums or were collected by the likes of Henry Clay Frick, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, the Morgan family, Henry Huntington and the Field family. These were collectors of such great wealth that they tended to either donate their collections to their favorite local museum or founded their own museum such as the Huntington. Meanwhile, the exponential increase in printmaking in the 19th century flooded the market with inexpensive prints of Breton's works. In 2019, dozens of these 19th century prints are available on websites like EBay beginning at under $10.

Breton's change in fame can be contrasted with his contemporary the artist Vincent van Gogh. During their lifetimes, Breton was a celebrated and highly paid successful artist. He spent months creating some of his works. Whereas, in 1880 Vincent van Gogh was so poor he walked on foot 85 kilometers to Courrières to pay a visit to Breton, whom he greatly admired, but turned back, put off by Breton's high wall. No great collectors flocked to purchase van Gogh's works during his lifetime, he received no commissions to paint from New York City, no prints were made while he lived, and he died in poverty. However, at a 2015 auction van Gogh's work Paysage Sous un ciel Mouvement, painted at a time he generated one work per day, commanded $54 million. Ironically, in a letter to his brother Theo, van Gogh mentions he viewed Breton's painting The Song of the Lark and considered it to be "fine".

Prints and reproductions

In 1898 Knoedler published a catalog of their prints and listed 8 prints after Jules Breton including The Evening etched by Charles Waltner, 4 prints etched by Lionel Aristide Lecouteux, The Song of the Lark by Charles Louis Kratke, and Last Ray by Paul-Adolphe Rajon. Knoedler was by no means the only publisher of prints by Breton. Other publishers included Arthur Tooth & Sons of London, Detroit Publishing Co, and Morris & Bendien of New York. Other etchers include Charles Koepping and W. S. Lathrop and Leopold Joseph Flameng. Most prints tended to be rather small and unsigned. A few have survived to this day that were signed by both Jules Breton and the etcher. Works by Breton are still popular today and are being reproduced in giclée framed and unframed as well as everything from shopping bags to pillows and bed covers as well as tee-shirts and coffee mugs.

Homages

In 1912, Jules Breton St. in the 13th arrondissement of Paris was given his name.

Willa Cather's novel The Song of the Lark takes its name from Breton's painting.

In February 2014, actor Bill Murray disclosed at a press event for the film, The Monuments Men, that an encounter with Breton's painting "The Song of the Lark," at the Art Institute of Chicago, helped turn him away from suicidal thoughts.