AB-MP2M-1951-002 — At the Market (1951)

Technical information

Title : At the Market
Date : 1951
Technique : Oil on canvas
Dimensions : 46 × 38 cm
Location : Private collection

Biographical / historical context

In 1951, Breuillaud developed a series of market scenes in which he observed popular life and the organisation of stalls. These compositions offered him an ideal subject for combining a plane-built construction—indebted to Cubism—with a discreet narrative based on gestures and the interplay of masses.

Formal / stylistic description

The scene centres on a stall whose volumes—baskets, fruit, table surfaces—are reduced to angular forms. The figures, deliberately schematised, fit into an architecture of diagonals and verticals that keeps the composition taut.

The palette, more muted than in some contemporary works, favours greens, browns and near-blacks, punctuated by orange and red accents, which heighten the dense, interior atmosphere.

Comparative analysis / related works

The work belongs to the 1951 Paris market cycle and is close, in theme and construction, to compositions entitled Rue Lepic Market and Ordener Market. It differs from them by a more intimate focus and a darker tonality: space is less described than suggested, and the interlocking of planes takes precedence over conventional depth.

Justification of dating and attribution

The date 1951 accords with the set of market scenes of similar size in which Breuillaud experiments with a synthesis of figure and setting through interlocking colour planes. The signature “Breuillaud”, visible at lower left on the reproduction, confirms the attribution.

Provenance / exhibitions / publications

Private collection.