AB-PR2-1950-014 — Landscape at Caromb (c. 1950)

Technical information

Title : Landscape at Caromb
Date : c. 1950
Technique : Oil on panel
Dimensions : 36 × 48 cm
Location : Private collection

Biographical / historical context

The year 1950 lies at the heart of the PR2 phase: Breuillaud moves away from more descriptive balances toward a luminous, post-Cubist writing in which color determines space.

Caromb, in the Vaucluse, becomes a studio motif—hills, olive trees, white houses, and horizons provide a framework for experimenting with a supple segmentation of planes.

This landscape seems conceived as a “pause” between figure scenes (harvesting, carts) and more structured research: the human presence recedes, yet the territory remains charged with implicit gestures (plots, paths, plantings).

Formal / stylistic description

The composition is organized in horizontal bands: a gently sloping foreground in pinkish ochre, a middle plane occupied by a blue‑green olive grove, then a light village and, beyond, a chain of blue hills.

Trees are rendered as simple volumes—almost triangular or cushion-like—with trunks sketched as colored lines; foliage effects rely on juxtaposed planes rather than modeled shading.

Houses appear as pale blocks (white/ivory) with orange roofs set into the green, reinforcing the idea of architecture “cutting into” the landscape.

Brushwork and flat planes maintain overall cohesion: segmentation is present but not pushed to dislocation; transitions remain supple, balancing synthesis and legibility.

Comparative analysis / related works

The painting sits naturally alongside other Caromb landscapes from the PR2 ensemble: the same ochre slope, the same modular trees, the same blue horizon.

It is especially close to nearby variants in the PR2 corpus (notably AB-PR2-1950-015), with comparable relationships between the light village, the olive grove, and the bands of terrain.

Compared with AB-PR2-1950-016 (Chromatic Architecture), this work preserves a calmer cohesion and a less forceful segmentation; the emphasis is more on atmosphere than on a gridded construction of planes.

Conversely, when set against the more incandescent landscapes of 1952–1953, the palette here remains contained: the composition still holds to a unified structure, before later chromatic amplifications and dislocations.

Justification of dating and attribution

The dating “circa 1950” (± one year) accords with the PR2 phase: an ochre/green/blue palette, muted contours, and a construction in planes that begins to depart from naturalism without tipping into systematic abstraction.

The panel support and compact format correspond to landscape essais made at Caromb, where Breuillaud explored rapid, structured variants.

Attribution to André Breuillaud is supported by the modular treatment of trees, the architectural simplification of the village, and the coherence with other PR2 works dated around 1950.

Provenance / exhibitions / publications

Current location: private collection.