Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton (1827-1906) was a 19th-century French naturalist painter.
His paintings are heavily influenced by the French countryside and his absorption of traditional methods of painting helped make him one of the primary transmitters of the beauty and idyllic vision of rural existence.
He was one of the best known painters of his period in his native France as well as England and the United States.
Jules-Breton | The Song of the Lark, 1884 | Art Institute of Chicago
In 1889 Breton was made commander of the Legion of Honor, and in 1899 foreign member of the Royal Academy of London.
He also wrote several books, and was a recognized writer who published a volume of poems (Jeanne) and several editions of prose relating his life as an artist and the lives of other artists that he personally knew.
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.
La fama di Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton (1827-1906) raggiunse l'apice postumo nel 1934 alla Fiera Mondiale di Chicago.
La First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt svelò Il Canto dell'Allodola come vincitore del concorso del Chicago Daily News per trovare "l'opera d'arte più amata d'America".
Inoltre, dichiarò che il dipinto era il suo preferito.
"In quel momento Il Canto dell'Allodola era arrivato a rappresentare il gusto artistico popolare americano a livello nazionale".
Naturalmente, poiché Il Canto dell'Allodola era stato recentemente donato all'Art Institute di Chicago, questa particolare opera di Breton aveva un vantaggio rispetto alle opere di Breton presenti in altri musei americani.
Breton, tuttavia, non fu universalmente apprezzato.
L'establishment artistico americano degli anni '30 considerava le opere di Breton di basso livello e lo stesso direttore dell'Art Institute di Chicago si espresse a favore della rimozione dell'opera dall'esposizione.
Fu solo nella seconda metà del XX secolo che il realismo sociale di Breton tornò ad essere più rispettabile.
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