The Cliff (La Falaise)

1874

Jules Breton

Associated Names
Jules Breton

Artist, French, 1827 - 1906

This painting shows a young woman lying on her stomach on a brown, rocky surface near the water's edge, looking towards the sea. The woman's bare feet are towards the bottom left corner of the painting, while her head is in the center, resting on her hand. She faces the right, and we see her back and side. She wears a pale green shirt with blue sleeves, a brown skirt, and a white cloth on her head. There is a red cloth on the ground next to her, as well as a pointed wooden stick that appears to be covered in white strips of cloth or feathers. The ground below her on the right is a tan, sandy color, and behind her is the sea, which is painted in vibrant turquoise and green shades, with white lines capping small waves. The sky is light blue with puffy white clouds, and distant landforms are visible in light gray across the water.

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 93

Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist; (Goupil & cie, Paris, 14 March, 1874, no. 8816).[1] Serge von Derwies [1863-1943], Nice, by 1904;[2] (his sale: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 15 November 1906, no. 5 as L'attente). (Perhaps Georges Petit, Paris, acquired at the above sale). (Sale Sotheby’s, Parke, Bernet, New York, 16 January 1975, no. 176). (Sale, Sotheby’s, Parke, Bernet, New York, 4 May 1979, no. 249); The Forbes Magazine collection, New York; (their sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 13 October 1993, no. 22); ptrivate collection, Europe; Eric Weider, Westlake, TX; gift 2024 to NGA.
[1] Provenance courtesy of the Jules Breton online catalogue raisonné project.
[2] The painting was reproduced in Galerie Serge von Derwies (Saint Petersburg, 1904), no. 20, as "L'Attente". For information on the Von Derwies collection, begun by Serge’s father Paul von Derwies [1826-1881], see Dominique Laredo, “De Nice à Saint-Pétersbourg: la Galerie Serge Von Derwies : le Catalogue inédit de la collection Von Derwies (1904),” Revue Russe 37, 2011: 143-157. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/russe.2011.2473).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1874

  • Salon of 1874, Paris, no. 257.

1983

  • Jules Breton and the French Rural Tradition, 1983, no. 38, repro.

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