Lot 106: VIRGINIE DEMONT BRETON

VIRGINIE DEMONT BRETON FRENCH, 1859-1935 FEMME DE PECHEUR VENANT DE BAIGNER SES ENFANTS signed and dated Virginie Demont-Breton 1881 (lower right) oil on canvas 80 1/4 by 49 7/8 in. 203.8 by 126.7cm. PROVENANCE Paris Salon, 1881, No. 675 (Medaille de 3eme classe) Goupil & Co., Paris, 1881 Sale, Paris, Hotel Drouot, May 24-25, 1887 Mr. J.H. Van Eeghen (acquired from above) On loan to the Stedeldijk Museum, Amsterdam, exhibited from 1896 until 1902/1903 Sale, Christie's London, April 30, 1909, Lot 107 as A Fisherwoman returning from bathing her children Royal Art Ltd., New Orleans, 1984 present owner (purchased from above) This rare and newly discovered composition was most likely realized along the route in Douarnenez, Brittany, where Demont-Breton travelled during the summer of 1880. This picturesque region brought back memories of her youthful sojourns in the years between 1865 and 1873 to the Douarnenez bay with her father, painter Jules Breton and her family. Demont-Breton's painting upholds the spirit of her father's vision of rural life - that of an idyllic, pre-industrial world, where man was at harmony with nature. Femme de Pecheur is also a paean to the wholesomeness and nobility of the peasantry. The female figure is maternal, protective, and strong. Indeed, she is of monumental scale, imbued with an almost heroic stature as she balances two children in her arms while crossing a rocky beach, her feet clinging to the slippery, mossy stones. Demont-Breton has combined elements of the rural realist style with the more iconic elements of the Old Master tradition to portray a modern-day Madonna and Child. We are grateful to Annette Bourrut Lacouture for kindly confirming the authenticity of this work and providing additional catalogue information. This work will be included in Annette Bourrut Lacouture's forthcoming catalogue raisonne of the works of Virginie Demont-Breton.

80 1/4 by 49 7/8 in.