AB-PR1-1948-003 — The Little Harbour (c. 1948)

Technical information

Title : The Little Harbour
Date : c. 1948
Technique : Oil on cardboard
Dimensions : 27 × 35 cm
Location : Private collection*

Biographical / historical context

In the second half of the 1940s, Breuillaud regularly returned to the motif of the harbour and boats, treating it in small-format studies. These oils on cardboard offered him a rapid field for experimenting with blue harmonies, the cutting of silhouettes, and the play of verticals (masts, poles, and bell towers).

The work belongs to a group of landscape studies in which the painter combines observation and construction, privileging the motif’s architecture over narration.

Formal / stylistic description

The scene shows a quay in the foreground, behind which extends a basin of green-blue water. A boat with a blue and orange hull occupies the center; masts, rigging, and poles draw a network of oblique and vertical lines. In the background, pale façades and a bell tower align beneath a yellow-orange sky.

The brushwork is energetic and visible, simplifying masses: the water is treated in broad bands, buildings in clearly cut volumes. Bright blue accents and orange notes reinforce the structural reading and the character of a study from life.

Comparative analysis / related works

The small format is close to Breuillaud’s other seascapes and harbour views through the importance given to linear drawing (masts and rigging) and through the contrast between the stability of façades and the vibration of water.

One also finds a logic of construction in strata (quay / basin / built frontage / sky) that organizes space clearly while maintaining a luminous atmosphere.

Justification of dating and attribution

The dating “c. 1948” is consistent with the chromatic synthesis and the way planes are articulated with linear networks, characteristic of PR1 landscape studies.

The attribution is reinforced by the painted signature at lower left and by recurring procedures (structured color fields, simplified silhouettes, crisp highlights).

Provenance / exhibitions / publications

Public sale: Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 26/11/2025, auctioneer Pescheteau-Badin.

Private collection.