Jules Breton

Jules Breton painted rural France with a romantic eye that caught the mood of a nation watching its countryside transform. Born in Courrières in northern France, he studied in Belgium and Paris before returning home to chronicle peasant life—gleaning fields, harvest work, the seasonal rhythms of agricultural labour. His Gleaners (1855) brought him recognition at the Salon and the attention of his peers; he went on to exhibit widely, earning a first-class medal at the 1867 Universal Exposition.