Willows

According to William H. Gerdts, John Leslie Breck "appears to have been one of the first American painters, if not the first, to adopt the strategies of Impressionism...Certainly by 1888, when he painted Willows...Breck had adopted the rich colorism and broken fracture of the style, with his forms somewhat dissolving under the play of sunlight" (W.H. Gerdts, Monet's Giverny: An Impressionist Colony, New York, 1993, pp. 55 and 57). Painted in his second season at Giverny, when he was likely in contact with Monet, Willows characterizes Breck at his best, with its lively brushwork and subtle qualities of light. The present work was purchased from Breck by fellow Impressionist Lilla Cabot Perry and her husband, who exhibited the work upon their return to Boston as part of their important endeavor to introduce Breck's work to the American art world, building upon his strong presence in France.