Jules Adolphe Aime' Louis Breton

2017 Photograph Dale DiMauro

Last weekend my wife and I visited the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA. This day trip in early summer has become an annual ritual, followed up by attending a play in the evening at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Even though there was a special exhibition on Picasso, we are usually drawn to the permanent collection, and this time was no different. Since the museum completed its expansion, the exterior setting outside in junction with the orientation of the grounds truly parallel the quality of the works hanging on the inside walls. Through all the improvements to the museum, it remains in its familiar location and many of the art works feel like old friends. 

I have always admired this painting by Jules Breton (1827-1906), a French 19th century realist painter. The painting, titled Peasant girl with turkeys, is oil on canvas, completed in 1864. Breton's paintings reveal the importance of the French landscape to his art.