Works – John Leslie Breck – Artists A-Z – Terra Foundation for American Art

John Leslie Breck

Date: 1891

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1989.4.7

Text Entries: John Leslie Breck's early work was often large in scale and dark in color. He dramatically altered his artistic approach, however, after his sojourn to France in the mid-1880s. Executed over a period of three days in the Normandy village of Giverny, Breck's small studies are an analysis of atmospheric changes from dawn to dusk. They were first shown in Boston in 1893 unframed and side-by-side in an exhibition along with the much larger "Morning Fog and Sun." Most likely begun in the outdoors but finished in the studio, these paintings were left unvarnished by the artist, enhancing the freshness and immediacy of Breck's subject matter: the natural cycle of time, movement, and change.

Studies of an Autumn Day

John Leslie Breck

Date: 1891

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1989.4.8

Text Entries: John Leslie Breck's early work was often large in scale and dark in color. He dramatically altered his artistic approach, however, after his sojourn to France in the mid-1880s. Executed over a period of three days in the Normandy village of Giverny, Breck's small studies are an analysis of atmospheric changes from dawn to dusk. They were first shown in Boston in 1893 unframed and side-by-side in an exhibition along with the much larger "Morning Fog and Sun." Most likely begun in the outdoors but finished in the studio, these paintings were left unvarnished by the artist, enhancing the freshness and immediacy of Breck's subject matter: the natural cycle of time, movement, and change.

Studies of an Autumn Day

John Leslie Breck

Date: 1891

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1989.4.9

Text Entries: John Leslie Breck's early work was often large in scale and dark in color. He dramatically altered his artistic approach, however, after his sojourn to France in the mid-1880s. Executed over a period of three days in the Normandy village of Giverny, Breck's small studies are an analysis of atmospheric changes from dawn to dusk. They were first shown in Boston in 1893 unframed and side-by-side in an exhibition along with the much larger "Morning Fog and Sun." Most likely begun in the outdoors but finished in the studio, these paintings were left unvarnished by the artist, enhancing the freshness and immediacy of Breck's subject matter: the natural cycle of time, movement, and change.

Studies of an Autumn Day

John Leslie Breck

Date: 1891

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1989.4.12

Text Entries: John Leslie Breck's early work was often large in scale and dark in color. He dramatically altered his artistic approach, however, after his sojourn to France in the mid-1880s. Executed over a period of three days in the Normandy village of Giverny, Breck's small studies are an analysis of atmospheric changes from dawn to dusk. They were first shown in Boston in 1893 unframed and side-by-side in an exhibition along with the much larger "Morning Fog and Sun." Most likely begun in the outdoors but finished in the studio, these paintings were left unvarnished by the artist, enhancing the freshness and immediacy of Breck's subject matter: the natural cycle of time, movement, and change.

Winter Landscape

John Leslie Breck

Date: c. 1892–93

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1999.17

Text Entries: 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. 51, 146–47; fig. 43, p. 51 (black & white). 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. 51, 146–47; fig. 43, p. 51 (black & white).

Morning Fog and Sun

John Leslie Breck

Date: 1892

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1999.19

Text Entries: Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by John Leslie Breck. (exh. cat., St. Botolph Club). Boston, Massachusetts: St. Botolph Club, 1899. Text (checklist), cat. no. 1 (as Haystacks at Giverny). Sotheby's, New York, New York (Sale 6109, November 29, 1990): lot 56. Text and ill. lot 56 (color). 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. Pl. 19, p. 161 (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. Pl. 19, p. 161 (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 pp. 18, 23 (checklist); ill. p. 18 (black & white). 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 pp. 18, 23 (checklist); ill. p. 18 (black & white). Joyes, Claire. The Taste of Giverny: At Home with Monet and the American Impressionists. Paris, France: Flammarion, 2000. Ill. pp. 26–27 (color). Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 124, 191–92; ill. pp. 12 (color), 125 (color), 191 (black & white). Bourguignon, Katherine M. and Elizabeth Kennedy. Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra. Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2002. Text pp. 124, 191–92; ill. pp. 12 (color), 125 (color), 191 (black & white). Griffith, Bronwyn A. E. Passing Through Paris: Americans in France, 1860–1930. (exh. brochure, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2005. Text n.p.; fig. 7, n.p. (color). Griffith, Bronwyn A. E. Le Passage à Paris: les artistes américains en France, 1860–1930. (exh. brochure, Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2005. Text n.p.; fig. 7, n.p. (color). 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, 204 (checklist); ill. p. 100 (color detail), 110 (color). Mauvoisin, Jacques and Gwenaëlle Ledot. Écrivins de Normandie. Saint-Lô, France: Normandie Magazine, 2007. Ill. p. 103 (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. 48, pp. 96 (in Japanese), 185 (in English); ill. p. 96 (color). Bourguignon, Katherine M. American Impressionism: A New Vision 1880-1900. (exh. cat., Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, National Galleries of Scotland, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza). Giverny, France: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, 2014. Text p. 32; ill. p. 83 (color). Bourguignon, Katherine M. L’impressionnisme et les Américains. (exh. cat., Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, National Galleries of Scotland, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza). Giverny, France: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, 2014. Text p. 32; ill. p. 83 (color). Bourguignon, Katherine M. Impresionismo Americano. (exh. cat., Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, National Galleries of Scotland, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza). Giverny, France: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, 2014. Text p. 32; ill. p. 83 (color). Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Peter John Brownlee, eds. Conversations with the Collection: A Terra Foundation Collection Handbook. Chicago: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2018. Text pp. 114-116; fig. 1, p. 113 (color). Burdan, Amanda C. America’s Impressionism: Echoes of a Revolution. (exh. cat., Brandywine River Museum of Art). Chadds Ford, PA: Brandywine River Museum of Art; Memphis, TN: Dixon Gallery and Gardens; San Antonio, TX: San Antonio Museum of Art; distributed by Yale University Press, 2020. Text p. 36; ill. p. 37 (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 p. 37; Pl. 78, p. 142 (color).

A Bit of Detail

John Leslie Breck

Date: c. 1893

Credit Line: Terra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection

Object number: 1992.16

Text Entries: Domit, Moussa M. American Impressionist Painting. (exh. cat., National Gallery of Art). Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1974. Ill. no. 8, p. 26 (color). Pilgrim, Dianne. "The National Gallery's Impressionist Show." American Art Review (January/February 1974): 76–80, 126. Ill. p. 80 (color as Rock Garden). Gerdts, William H. American Impressionism. New York: Abbeville Press, 1984. Ill. no. 50, p. 64 (color as Rock Garden at Giverny). The Magazine Antiques 127 (March 1985): 493. Ill. (color as Rock Garden at Giverny). American Paintings III 1985. New York: Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., 1985. Ill. p. 83 (color as Rock Garden at Giverny). Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Text p. 240; pl. T-131, p. 240 (color). Weber, Bruce and William H. Gerdts. In Nature's Ways: American Landscape Painting of the Late Nineteenth Century. (exh. cat., Norton Gallery of Art). West Palm Beach, Florida: Norton Gallery of Art, 1987. Fig. 3, p. 74 (black & white). Corbin, Kathryn. John Leslie Breck, American Impressionist. The Magazine Antiques 134 (November 1988). Text Pl. X (caption). 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. 51, 146–47; fig. 44, p. 51 (black & white). 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. 51, 146–47; fig. 44, p. 51 (black & white). Peters, Lisa N. Visions of Home: American Impressionist Images of Suburban Leisure and Country Comfort. (exh. cat., Trout Gallery). Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England, 1997. Fig. 34, p. 60 (black & white as A Bit of Detail: Rock Garden at Giverny).