Bouguereau made his fortune by producing idyllic images of women and children for enthusiastic American collectors. As a critic of the time explained, "Whoever gets a picture by Bouguereau gets the full worth of his money, in finished painting, first-rate drawing, and a subject and treatment that no well-bred person can…fault."

This picture is one of several works that the artist based on sketches made while summering in Brittany in the late 1860s. It was completed in his studio in 1871; Catharine Lorillard Wolfe’s father, the real estate and hardware baron John David Wolfe (1792–1872), purchased the painting from the New York office of the gallery Goupil & Co. in November of that year, just six months before his death. He left the picture to his daughter along with a considerable fortune, which she channeled into her increasingly ambitious activities as a collector and philanthropist. By the time of her death in 1887, she was said to have given away over four million dollars.

[Goupil & Cie, Paris, 1871; stock no. 5724; purchased on September 12, as "Frère et soeur (Bretons)," for Fr 8,000; sold on October 23, for Fr 18,000, to Knoedler]; [M. Knoedler, New York, 1871; sold on November 21, for $6,000, to Wolfe]; John David Wolfe, New York (1871–d. 1872); his daughter, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, New York (1872–d. 1887)

Portland, Oreg. Portland Art Museum. "Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition, 1892–1842," December 2, 1942–January 3, 1943, no. 7 (as "The Two Sisters").

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Taste of the Seventies," April 2–September 10, 1946, no. 67 (as "The Two Sisters").

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Van Gogh as Critic and Self-Critic," October 30, 1973–January 6, 1974, no. 12.

New York Cultural Center. "William-Adolphe Bouguereau," December 13, 1974–February 2, 1975, no. 8 (as "Frère et sœur bretons").

San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor. "William-Adolphe Bouguereau," February 15–March 29, 1975, no. 8.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Samuel P. Avery: Pioneer American Art Dealer," September 11–October 31, 1979, unnumbered cat.

Paris. Musée du Luxembourg. "L'aventure de Pont-Aven et Gauguin," April 2–June 22, 2003, no. 5 (as "Frère et soeur bretons").

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Quimper. "L'aventure de Pont-Aven et Gauguin," July 12–September 30, 2003, no. 5.

Naples. Castel Sant'Elmo. "Gauguin e la Bretagna," October 19, 2003–January 11, 2004, no. 5.

The Art Treasures of America. reprint, 1977. New York, 1879, vol. 1, p. 134, as "The Mother's Treasure".

Ch[arles]. Vendryes. Catalogue illustré des oeuvres de W. Bouguereau. Paris, 1885, p. 46, calls it "Frère et Soeur bretons".

"The Fine Arts: Recent Gifts to the Metropolitan Museum." Critic (April 16, 1887), p. 194.

Clarence Cook. Art and Artists of Our Time. New York, 1888, vol. 1, p. 87, ill., calls it "The Two Sisters".

Edward Strahan. Selected Pictures from Public and Private Collections in the United States. Philadelphia, 1888, p. 66.

Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings. New York, 1892, vol. 1, p. 189, as "Mother's Treasure" in the collection of Miss C. L. Wolfe.

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art—The French Painters." New York Times (May 22, 1895), p. 4.

Marius Vachon. W. Bouguereau. Paris, 1900, pp. 91–92, 150, calls it "Frère et sœur bretons" and mentions it as one of the works inspired by the artist's studies in Brittany in 1868.

Masters in Art: Bouguereau 7 (January 1906), p. 39, pl. VIII, calls it "Brother and Sister," likens it to "Shepherdess" (private collection), and comments that Bouguereau depicted his peasant neighbors at La Rochelle without "the grime of the fields [and] the soil of the roadside".

Charles Sterling, and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX Century." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2, New York, 1966, p. 174, ill., note that it was once thought to be "Two Sisters," another painting of 1871, but that the younger child appears to be a boy; observe that the girl's costume is typical of Brittany, where Bouguereau made studies in 1868.

Charles S. Moffett. Van Gogh as Critic and Self-Critic. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1973, unpaginated, no. 12, comments that the refined academic handling of this picture is inconsistent with the reality of the subject matter as portrayed in works by van Gogh.

Robert Isaacson. William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Exh. cat., New York Cultural Center. New York, 1974, p. 24, no. 8, ill., notes that it is one among dozens of compositions by the artist that explore close familial relationships.

"Talk of the Town: Bouguereau." New Yorker (November 25, 1974), p. 43.

Linda Whiteley. "Accounting for Tastes." Oxford Art Journal no. 2 (April 1979), pp. 27–28, ill., suggests that the subject was influenced by Hugues Merle, a painter who specialized "in genre scenes, often of mildly religious cast".

Fronia E. Wissman. Bouguereau. San Francisco, 1996, p. 50, fig. 6.

Rebecca A. Rabinow. "Catharine Lorillard Wolfe: The First Woman Benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum." Apollo 147 (March 1998), pp. 50, 54 n. 10, fig. 12 (installation photo), states that John David Wolfe bought this picture from Goupil & Co., New York on November 21, 1871, for $6,000.

André Cariou in L'Aventure de Pont-Aven et Gauguin. Exh. cat., Musée du Luxembourg, Paris. Milan, 2003, pp. 18–19, 38–39, no. 5, ill. (color, overall and detail) [Italian ed., pp. 8–9, 28–29, no. 5, ill. (color, overall and detail)], notes that although this picture was painted in Paris, the figures's costumes and bare feet indicate the regions of Fouesnant and Pont-Aven in Brittany.

Rebecca A. Rabinow in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 80, 216, no. 74, ill. (color and black and white).

Damien Bartoli with Frederick Ross. "Catalogue Raisonné of his Painted Work." William Bouguereau. 2, New York, 2010, pp. 136, 365, no. 1871/10, ill. (color), erroneously state that it is signed and dated at the bottom right; note that the artist listed it as "Frère et sœur bretons" in his accounts; mention a replica by Léon Perrault (private collection, United States).

Damien Bartoli with Frederick Ross. "His Life and Works." William Bouguereau. 1, New York, 2010, colorpl. 97.