In 1885 Major began his three years of study in Europe by enrolling at the Académie Julian in Paris, and the acceptance of his work at the Salon each year from 1886 to 1889 confirmed his early success. It is clear from "Resting-Montigny-sur-Loing" that Major also became aware of the avant-garde developments in Paris, especially the peasant pictures of Pissarro.
Rural and peasant motifs had become increasingly popular in both France and America in the 1870s and 1880s. Paintings by Millet and Jules Breton were especially sought after in American galleries and auction houses. Like Pissarro, Major adopted those rural themes, rendering his workers with a more modern Impressionist vocabulary. Major portrayed his farm women in Montigny-sur-Loing, a village southeast of Paris on the edge of the forest of Fontainebleau, between Moret, where Sisley was working, and Grèz, an important artists' colony. In his idealized vision of rustic life, Major surrounded the women resting on farm implements with a halo of light, which makes them stand out from the background of rambling stone farm buildings. Integrating his academic training in figure painting and traditional composition with Impressionist techniques, Major ably captured the effect of sunlight on this pastoral scene, using broken brushwork and a light palette.

This text was adapted from an entry by Janet Comey in Erica Hirshler, "Impressionism Abroad: Boston and French Painting," exhibition catalogue, Royal Academy of Arts, 2005.

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