To offer you even more information about the museum and Mesdag’s art collection, and serve you better, we use cookies. By clicking ‘Accept’, you are giving us permission to use these cookies. Cookies help us to ensure that the website works properly. We also analyse how the website is used, so that we can make any necessary improvements. Advertisements can also be displayed tailored to your interests. And finally, we use cookies to display videos, forms, Google Maps and other embedded content.
Find out more about our cookies.

Home Language
  • Nederlands English
  • Plan your visit
  • To see
  • To do
  • About Mesdag and his collection
  • Highlights of the collection
  • Locations to hire
  • More about the museum
Contact Disclaimer Privacy & Cookies
Back to top
Menu
Highlights of the collection

This image is
unavailable

Meer informatie

The Crows
Emile Adélard Breton, 1870

  • Download Image
    small medium large
    • Terms and conditions (pdf)
    • For commercial use please contact us (email)
  • Share this work
    Facebook (Opens in new window) Twitter (Opens in new window) Pinterest (Opens in new window) E-mail (Opens your Emailclient)

The Crows

Emile Adélard Breton (1831 - 1902), 1870

oil on canvas, 56 cm x 86.5 cm
The Mesdag Collection, The Hague


Emile Breton painted many winter scenes. He most likely made this landscape in Courrières in Northern France, where he lived his entire life. He depicted a flock of crows converging from all directions on a dung cart. The birds descend like a whirlwind, introducing movement into the otherwise tranquil, snow-covered expanse.

Mesdag was fascinated by Breton’s work, which he knew from exhibitions in Paris. As a beginning artist, he himself made a few winter landscapes. Mesdag purchased two paintings by Breton and hung The Crows in his house at the Laan van Meerdervoort in The Hague.

See also:

  • 1860 - 1870
  • painting
  • landscape (representation)
  • genre picture
  • animal art
  • peasant life
  • Emile Adélard Breton

Object number
hwm0057
Credits
The Mesdag Collection, The Hague
Dimensions
56cm x 86.5cm, 88.5cm x 118cm, 14cm