Artwork
The Colza (Harvesting Rapeseed)
The Colza (Harvesting Rapeseed) is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Jules Breton. It dates from 1860 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:lower left: Jules Breton / Courrieres 1860
About this work
Technique & Style
The composition measures approximately 94 cm in height and 137 cm in width.
Executed in 1860, this work is an oil painting on canvas. The composition measures approximately 94 cm in height and 137 cm in width. As a classified painting by Jules Breton, the piece utilizes traditional materials of oil paint applied to a woven fabric support, consistent with mid-nineteenth-century French academic practices.
The physical object has survived from its creation through various private collections before entering public institutional care, retaining its original structural format without recorded alterations to its medium or support.
History & Provenance
Painted in 1860 by Jules Breton, the work entered private hands in Paris when Anna Delion acquired it in June 1861. She disposed of it at a sale in March 1862, after which C.G. Candano held it until June 1887. The painting was then sold to American industrialist William A. Clark in 1899 and remained in his collection until his bequest of the work to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1926. The Corcoran retained ownership until the National Gallery of Art acquired it in 2014.
The painting’s provenance is documented in the Corcoran’s 1983 exhibition catalogue, which cites an earlier sale listing the work as _La Récolte du colza_, and is corroborated by its presence in the National Gallery of Art’s collection records.
The work is an oil on canvas measuring 93.98 cm by 137.16 cm, painted in 1860, and is currently held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
The Colza (Harvesting Rapeseed) is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It was acquired in 2014 from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, which had received the work as a bequest from William A. Clark in 1926. The painting entered Clark's collection in 1899 after being sold by C.G. Candano in 1887, with earlier provenance tracing to Anna Delion of Paris, who purchased it in June 1861 and later sold it in March 1862.
The work is catalogued in the National Gallery of Art's collection as accession number 2014.143.1.
Overview
Jules Breton’s 1860 oil on canvas, The Colza (Harvesting Rapeseed), portrays a quiet agricultural labor scene. A woman in the foreground carries a basket brimming with bright yellow rapeseed, while other figures work in the background under a muted sky. The composition balances the individual’s presence with the broader field, conveying a moment of everyday rural activity.
Subject & Meaning
The painting focuses on a harvest of rapeseed, a crop associated with rural economies in 19th‑century France. Breton emphasizes the dignity of the laborers, especially the central woman whose careful stance and modest attire suggest both responsibility and connection to the land. The work conveys a serene, almost timeless view of peasant life, highlighting the harmony between people and their environment.
Context
Breton’s work belongs to the Realist movement, which sought to depict ordinary life with fidelity rather than romantic exaggeration. The depiction of rapeseed harvest aligns with contemporary interest in agrarian subjects, reflecting both the economic importance of such crops and a nostalgic view of countryside traditions amid rapid industrialization.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Jules Adolphe Aimé Louis Breton (French pronunciation:; 1 May 1827 – 5 July 1906) was a 19th-century French naturalist painter.
