Bretton was one of the most popular and successful French painters of the nineteenth century. He made his name with large scale paintings of rural themes.
Les mauvaises herbes / 1868 / Oil on canvas
Bretton was brought up in a small village in North West France, where his father was the steward of a large estate.
Bretton was a contemporary of the Impressionists, but his paintings are very different from the other Impressionists. His work completed in the traditional manner, shows how revolutionary the Impressionist style was.
The Impressionists worked outdoors, and were always striving to work with quick, comma like brushstrokes to record their immediate senses.
Van Gogh was an admirer of Breton's peasant scenes. He even made a pilgrimage to Courrieres in 1880.
The Reapers / 1880 / Oil on canvas
In a letter to this brother Theo, he wrote 'Anyhow, I saw Courrieres, and the outside of Bretton's studio ... But shall I say of the interior? I was not able to catch a glimpse, for I lacked the courage myself to enter and introduce myself ....'
Bretton had a great affinity to Courrieres, and loved to paint his native region. He painted many sunlit scenes of abundant harvests. The women were dressed in peasant clothing, and their faces do not betray the weariness you would expect them to have.