Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté trained in Paris at the École des beaux-arts and both the Julian and Colarossi Academies, and absorbed the innovations of the Impressionists. From late 1897 to mid-July of 1907, Suzor-Coté lived in France almost continuously, exhibiting regularly at the Paris Salons. While there, he spent considerable time sketching in the surrounding countryside, and spent the summer of 1906 painting in Port-Blanc on the north coast of Brittany, as well as in the region of Cernay – locations such as these were a magnet for painters. This sensitive observation of the countryside at dusk lit by a rising moon displays Suzor-Coté’s great technical virtuosity. Both the Barbizon School and Impressionist painters were greatly interested in atmospheric effects of all kinds, and the poetic ambiance of the moon was considered particularly beguiling. Crépuscule d’été, with its luminous sky and dusk-shrouded trees, is an outstanding example of this subject. On his return to Canada, Suzor-Coté brought with him fresh approaches to painting and, along with Maurice Cullen, he is considered to have introduced Impressionism to Canada.