JULES BRETON (1827-1906) Young woman in an oat field, Courrières, circa 1855-1860. Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. On the back of the stretcher handwritten labels "300/Femme dans les blés" and "14"; 16 in white chalk. 30 x 39 cm. Canvas very slightly distended. Provenance : Artist's studio; (his sale, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, June 2-3, 1911, lot 15 (not sold). Private collection. Exhibitions : - Jules et Émile Breton, peintres de l'Artois, Arras, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 1976-1977 - Jules Breton. La chanson des blés, Arras, musée des Beaux-Arts, March 16-June 2, 2002; Quimper, musée des Beaux-Arts, June 15-September 8, 2002; Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, September 23-December 15, 2002. Bibliography : - Sale of the studio, 1911, p.19 - Annette Bourrut-Lacouture, La chanson des blés, Somogy, 2002, ill. p. 54, p.238. - Annette Bourrut-Lacouture, Catalogue raisonné, ref 1855.16