The Close of Day

Description Two peasant women rest leaning on their rakes as the sun sets. Breton trained in Belgium and in Paris but remained committed to his birthplace, Courrières in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France. His early paintings reflect a concern for the plight for the rural poor, but his later works tended to romanticize their existence.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
2/16/1938	Treatment	cleaned; coated
2/01/1957	Treatment	mounted
5/23/1981	Examination	examined for condition
11/12/1981	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
8/01/1982	Treatment	coated; cleaned; other
8/21/1982	Treatment	cleaned; coated; other
7/16/1984	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
2/19/1991	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
8/11/1993	Loan Consideration	examined for loan
4/01/1995	Treatment	cleaned; loss compensation; re-housed

Exhibitions

• Jules Breton and the French Rural Tradition. Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha; The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis; The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown. 1982-1983.
• Redefining Genre: French and American Painting 1850-1900. The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis; Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara; Meridian International Center, Washington. 1995-1996.
• Before Monet: Landscape Painting in France and Impressionist Masters: Highlights from The Walters Collection. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1998.
• Vive la France! French Treasures from the Middle Ages to Monet. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1999-2000.
• A Magnificent Age: Masterpieces from the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte. 2002-2004.
• From Rye to Raphael: The Walters Story. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2014-2016.

Provenance Purchased by William T. Walters (from the artist through George A. Lucas as agent), Baltimore, February 14 1865 [1]; inherited by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931. [1] The Diary of George A. Lucas, p. 193.

Inscriptions [Signature] Lower right: Jules Breton/Courriéres 1865

Credit Acquired by William T. Walters, ca. 1865