"nous ne faisions pas mauvaise figure dans notre salle"

Autograph signed postcard from painter Jules Breton to painter William Bouguereau regarding the loss of his son and his visit to the Salon des artistes indépendants: "[...] Quoique vieux jeunes tous les deux, j'ai remarqué samedi matin lors d'une première visite au Salon que nous ne faisions pas mauvaise figure dans notre salle. Et il ya 50 ans que nous y luttons. Ceux qui vivront dans 50 ans verront beaucoup de nos triomphateurs à bon marché. [...]" ["Though we are both old yet young, I noticed on Saturday morning during a first visit to the Salon that we did not cut a poor figure in our room. And we have been struggling there for 50 years. Those who live in 50 years' time will see many of our cheap triumphers."]. One postcard.
Academically trained, a realist then naturalist painter, Jules Breton was one of the first artists of rural life and a poet member of the Parnasse, admired notably by Van Gogh.