Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Descended in family through artist's brother, Edward Breck
Brown-Corbin Fine Art, Lincoln, Massachusetts
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York, 1988
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1989
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
John Leslie Breck
(American, 1860–1899)
Studies of an Autumn Day
1891
Oil on canvas
Image: 12 7/8 x 16 1/16 in. (32.7 x 40.8 cm)
Frame: 16 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (41.9 x 49.5 cm)
Frame: 16 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (41.9 x 49.5 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1989.4.9
SignedUnsigned
InterpretationThe creeping shadows of dusk dominate the ninth of John Leslie Breck's multiple Studies of an Autumn Day, a serial portrait of three grain stacks in an open field viewed from the same spot at different times of day. Compared with the preceding view (TF 1989.4.8), the intensity of the sunlight has dropped, dulling the green tones of the distant hillside on the left and the trees on the right horizon. Shadows-presumably of trees or other objects just behind the viewer-cast strange shapes that taper upward from the lower right edge of the composition and partly envelop the three grain stacks. Like the unshaded tawny of the stubbly field, the flat gray shadows are rendered by a vibrating pattern of choppy brushstrokes in the artist's attempt to replicate the optical effects of transient light on surfaces.
Throughout Breck's series, the globular hay mounds and other features of the setting maintain their position as their colors, textures, and shadows evolve with the moving sun and changing atmospheric conditions in the manner of time-lapse photography. This view differs dramatically from the preceding one (TF 1989.4.2), which shows the same setting just as the sun begins to emerge above the horizon. Although only twelve paintings of the series now are known to exist, Breck painted fifteen, as indicated by the numbered stanzas that comprise the poem "The Day (On Seeing John Leslie Breck's 'Studies of an Autumn Day')," by the artist's brother Edward. Exhibited under the title Studies of an Autumn Day in 1893 and called Continual Studies of the Same Day in the 1900 memorial exhibition of Breck's work, the paintings can be arranged so as to show time's passage in what appears to be a single day. In fact, they were created over the course of three days. Breck evidently worked on these small, portable canvases outdoors before his subject, carefully maintaining the position of his easel so as to picture exactly the same view in all the renderings. The result is a deliberately observed, almost scientifically dispassionate examination of optical phenomena that nonetheless conveys a hushed reverence for the immutability of natural cycles, climaxing in the evocative image of the rising golden autumn moon in the final, fully signed painting.
Breck painted Studies of an Autumn Day during the last weeks he spent in the artists' colony in the rural village Giverny, in Normandy, France. Breck had first visited in 1887, one of the first of many American artist-visitors who worked there experimenting with the outdoor painting method, divided brushstrokes, and bright colors of impressionism. As one of the few visitors admitted to the inner circle of impressionist pioneer Claude Monet (1840–1926), Breck was inspired by the master's subjects as well as his style. Studies of an Autumn Day appears a direct homage to Monet, who the year before had begun his serial interpretations of the grainstacks that dotted the fields surrounding Giverny during the harvest season. Yet the methodical, even mechanical exactitude of Breck's approach, extending to his method of applying paint in small, nervous but controlled touches, suggests also his awareness of the experimental art of French painter Georges Seurat (1859–1891), whose so-called neoimpressionism imposed a scientific detachment on impressionism's broken brushstrokes, pure color, and emphasis on purely visual experience. Studies of an Autumn Day marked not only the limits of Breck's engagement with such radical new ways of painting but the end of his sojourn in Giverny. About the time he made his series, Monet broke off his relationship with Breck, alarmed at the American's romantic interest in his stepdaughter Blanche Hoschedé and possibly also by his artistic emulation. In addition to Studies of an Autumn Day, Breck painted as many as three other paintings of grainstacks, including Morning Fog and Sun (TF 1999.19).
Throughout Breck's series, the globular hay mounds and other features of the setting maintain their position as their colors, textures, and shadows evolve with the moving sun and changing atmospheric conditions in the manner of time-lapse photography. This view differs dramatically from the preceding one (TF 1989.4.2), which shows the same setting just as the sun begins to emerge above the horizon. Although only twelve paintings of the series now are known to exist, Breck painted fifteen, as indicated by the numbered stanzas that comprise the poem "The Day (On Seeing John Leslie Breck's 'Studies of an Autumn Day')," by the artist's brother Edward. Exhibited under the title Studies of an Autumn Day in 1893 and called Continual Studies of the Same Day in the 1900 memorial exhibition of Breck's work, the paintings can be arranged so as to show time's passage in what appears to be a single day. In fact, they were created over the course of three days. Breck evidently worked on these small, portable canvases outdoors before his subject, carefully maintaining the position of his easel so as to picture exactly the same view in all the renderings. The result is a deliberately observed, almost scientifically dispassionate examination of optical phenomena that nonetheless conveys a hushed reverence for the immutability of natural cycles, climaxing in the evocative image of the rising golden autumn moon in the final, fully signed painting.
Breck painted Studies of an Autumn Day during the last weeks he spent in the artists' colony in the rural village Giverny, in Normandy, France. Breck had first visited in 1887, one of the first of many American artist-visitors who worked there experimenting with the outdoor painting method, divided brushstrokes, and bright colors of impressionism. As one of the few visitors admitted to the inner circle of impressionist pioneer Claude Monet (1840–1926), Breck was inspired by the master's subjects as well as his style. Studies of an Autumn Day appears a direct homage to Monet, who the year before had begun his serial interpretations of the grainstacks that dotted the fields surrounding Giverny during the harvest season. Yet the methodical, even mechanical exactitude of Breck's approach, extending to his method of applying paint in small, nervous but controlled touches, suggests also his awareness of the experimental art of French painter Georges Seurat (1859–1891), whose so-called neoimpressionism imposed a scientific detachment on impressionism's broken brushstrokes, pure color, and emphasis on purely visual experience. Studies of an Autumn Day marked not only the limits of Breck's engagement with such radical new ways of painting but the end of his sojourn in Giverny. About the time he made his series, Monet broke off his relationship with Breck, alarmed at the American's romantic interest in his stepdaughter Blanche Hoschedé and possibly also by his artistic emulation. In addition to Studies of an Autumn Day, Breck painted as many as three other paintings of grainstacks, including Morning Fog and Sun (TF 1999.19).
Descended in family through artist's brother, Edward Breck
Brown-Corbin Fine Art, Lincoln, Massachusetts
Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York, New York, 1988
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1989
Exhibition History
Paintings by John Leslie Breck, Chase's Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, January 16–28, 1893 (as Studies of an Autumn Day).
Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by John Leslie Breck, National Arts Club, New York, New York, February 24–March 10, 1900 (as Continuous Studies of the Same Day). [exh. cat.]
Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915 (Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 1–November 1, 1992; April 1–October 31, 1993; April 1–October 30, 1994; April 1–October 31, 1995. [exh. cat.]
American Artists and the Paris Experience, 1880–1910, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 22, 1997–March 8, 1998.
Giverny: une impression américaine (Giverny, An American Impression), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 1, 1998.
Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999. [exh. cat.]
Permanent collection installation, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 1, 2001.
D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002 (on exhibit extended run: March 30–November 30, 2002).
En Plein Air: American Painters in Giverny, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 8–May 25, 2003.
Studied Abroad: Painted Impressions from the Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 6, 2003–April 4, 2004.
Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 1, 2007; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, July 21–October 14, 2007. [exh. cat.]
Impressionist Giverny: The Americans, 1885-1915, Selections from the Terra Foundation for American Art, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Florence Griswold Museum of Art, Old Lyme, Connecticut, May 3–July 27, 2008; Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, New York, August 23, 2008–January 4, 2009.
Monet and the Artists of Giverny: The Beginning of American Impressionism, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan with the Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venues: Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu, Japan, October 9–November 28, 2010; The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan, December 7, 2010–February 17, 2011; The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, Okayama, Japan, February 25–April 10, 2011. [exh. cat.]
American Impressionism: a New Vision, 1880–1900 (L'Impressionnisme et les Américains/ Impresionismo Americano (French & Spanish titles), Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, France and the Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizers). Venues: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, France, March 28–June 29, 2014; Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, July 19–October 19, 2014; Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain, November 4, 2014–February 1, 2015. [exh. cat.]
The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context (L’atelier de la Nature, 1860-1910. Invitation à la Terra Collection). Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny (organizers). Venue: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, France, September 12, 2020–January 3, 2021. [exh. cat. in French]
John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist, Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina (organizer); Venues: Mint Museum Uptown: September 18, 2021 – January 2, 2022; Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tennessee: January 22 – March 27, 2022; Figge Museum of American Art, Davenport, Iowa: May 28 – August 28, 2022. [exh. cat.]
Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by John Leslie Breck, National Arts Club, New York, New York, February 24–March 10, 1900 (as Continuous Studies of the Same Day). [exh. cat.]
Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915 (Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, June 1–November 1, 1992; April 1–October 31, 1993; April 1–October 30, 1994; April 1–October 31, 1995. [exh. cat.]
American Artists and the Paris Experience, 1880–1910, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 22, 1997–March 8, 1998.
Giverny: une impression américaine (Giverny, An American Impression), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 1, 1998.
Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999. [exh. cat.]
Permanent collection installation, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 1, 2001.
D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, March 30–June 16, 2002 (on exhibit extended run: March 30–November 30, 2002).
En Plein Air: American Painters in Giverny, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 8–May 25, 2003.
Studied Abroad: Painted Impressions from the Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 6, 2003–April 4, 2004.
Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venues: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 1, 2007; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, July 21–October 14, 2007. [exh. cat.]
Impressionist Giverny: The Americans, 1885-1915, Selections from the Terra Foundation for American Art, Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: Florence Griswold Museum of Art, Old Lyme, Connecticut, May 3–July 27, 2008; Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, New York, August 23, 2008–January 4, 2009.
Monet and the Artists of Giverny: The Beginning of American Impressionism, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan with the Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizers). Venues: Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu, Japan, October 9–November 28, 2010; The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan, December 7, 2010–February 17, 2011; The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, Okayama, Japan, February 25–April 10, 2011. [exh. cat.]
American Impressionism: a New Vision, 1880–1900 (L'Impressionnisme et les Américains/ Impresionismo Americano (French & Spanish titles), Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, France and the Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizers). Venues: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, France, March 28–June 29, 2014; Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, July 19–October 19, 2014; Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain, November 4, 2014–February 1, 2015. [exh. cat.]
The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context (L’atelier de la Nature, 1860-1910. Invitation à la Terra Collection). Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny (organizers). Venue: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, France, September 12, 2020–January 3, 2021. [exh. cat. in French]
John Leslie Breck: American Impressionist, Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina (organizer); Venues: Mint Museum Uptown: September 18, 2021 – January 2, 2022; Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tennessee: January 22 – March 27, 2022; Figge Museum of American Art, Davenport, Iowa: May 28 – August 28, 2022. [exh. cat.]
Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text pp. 146–47; pl. 18/9, p. 158 (color).
Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text pp. 146–47; pl. 18/9, p. 158 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 23 (checklist).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 23 (checklist).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. et al. Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915. (exh. cat. Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. Text pp. 23, 36, 66, 102, 204 (checklist); cat. p. 108 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M., Shunsuke Kijima and Sanjiro Minamikawa. Monet and the Artists of Giverny: The Beginning of American Impressionism. (exh. cat. Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, and The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art). Fukuoka, Japan: The Nishinippon Shimbun, 2010. Text cat. no. 44, pp.90 (in Japanese), 185 (in English); ill. p. 91, 94 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine and Valerie Reis. The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context. (exh. cat, Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny). Paris, France: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2020. Text pp. 28-29; Pl. 74, p. 141 (color).
Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text pp. 146–47; pl. 18/9, p. 158 (color).
Cartwright, Derrick R. The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 23 (checklist).
Cartwright, Derrick R. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 23 (checklist).
Bourguignon, Katherine M. et al. Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915. (exh. cat. Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. Text pp. 23, 36, 66, 102, 204 (checklist); cat. p. 108 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine M., Shunsuke Kijima and Sanjiro Minamikawa. Monet and the Artists of Giverny: The Beginning of American Impressionism. (exh. cat. Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, Tokyo, and The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art). Fukuoka, Japan: The Nishinippon Shimbun, 2010. Text cat. no. 44, pp.90 (in Japanese), 185 (in English); ill. p. 91, 94 (color).
Bourguignon, Katherine and Valerie Reis. The Studio of Nature, 1860-1910: The Terra Collection in Context. (exh. cat, Terra Foundation for American Art with the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny). Paris, France: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2020. Text pp. 28-29; Pl. 74, p. 141 (color).