This painting exemplifies Breckenridge’s full embrace of abstraction in his mature career. Angular forms fracture and intersect across the canvas, with warm coral and golden tones dominating the upper register, while cooler blues and purples anchor the lower section, punctuated by flashes of sunshine yellow. Breckenridge’s color fields, crossed by taut linear elements evocative of violin strings, recall the lyrical compositions of Wassily Kandinsky.
Born in Leesburg, Pennsylvania, Breckenridge enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) in 1887. While there, he and his fellow student Thomas Anshutz founded the Darby School of Art, which became a formative site for Pennsylvania Impressionism and trained artists such as Daniel Garber. After graduating from PAFA in 1892, Breckenridge won a scholarship to study in Paris at the Académie Julian. Returning to the US, he delved into Impressionism, emphasizing color and light. A second European trip in 1909 led Breckenridge toward Neo-Impressionism and more abstract landscapes. Breckenridge remained devoted to art education throughout his life. He taught at PAFA for forty years. In 1919, he became director of fine arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and in 1920 he opened the Breckenridge School of Art in Massachusetts.
