John Leslie Breck

One of the first Americans to adopt Impressionism and win it acceptance in the United States.

Dates1860 — 1899
NationalityAmerican
DisciplinePainter
Place of birthNé en mer, au large de Hong Kong

Biography

Trained in the United States, Germany and then Paris, John Leslie Breck first came to Giverny in 1887. He became close to Claude Monet and his family and made his transition to Impressionism. Back briefly in the United States in 1890-1891, he was among the first to exhibit Impressionist works there and to apply the style to the American landscape. He died in 1899, aged thirty-eight.

Giverny

The Figge Art Museum dates his first visit to Giverny to 1887, with a small group of colleagues; the Terra Foundation speaks of a residency from 1887 to 1891, and the Figge of a second trip in 1891. The musée des impressionnismes Giverny counts him among the artists who became friends with Monet. His career was short: he died in 1899, aged thirty-eight, and John Henry Twachtman then described him as an artist who had “founded a new school of painting in America”.

Relation with the Hôtel Baudy

He painted the house. The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg (Florida) describes his Evening in Giverny as depicting the colony’s landmarks: the Hôtel Baudy and the steeple of Sainte-Radegonde. No institutional source, however, attests that he lodged or ate there.

Principal works