Blue and Gold

Breckenridge was a student at the Pennsylvania Academy from 1887 to 1892 and taught there for more than forty years. He traveled through Europe with Pennsylvania impressionist Walter Schofield.

In his portraits and landscapes the influence of impressionism is evident as is his overwhelming fascination with color. Breckenridge produced many commissioned portraits which provided him a steady source of income. These exhibit the dazzling brushwork typical of society portraiture of the period. This full-length example is no exception, with its subject positioned against a background of blue, gold, pink and mauve.