The Bell Tower of Saint-Jean-les-Deux-Jumeaux

Technical information

Title : The Bell Tower of Saint-Jean-les-Deux-Jumeaux
Date : 1945
Technique : Oil on canvas (HST)
Dimensions : 50 × 65 cm
Location : Private collection*

Biographical / historical context

Dated 1945, this view of Saint-Jean-les-Deux-Jumeaux belongs to the renewed pictorial activity of the post-war period, when Breuillaud returned to nearby subjects: villages, riverbanks, bridges, and familiar architectural silhouettes. The bell tower, a landmark in the landscape, serves here as an anchor point and as the sign of a place.

The presence of boats suggests a riverside setting and recalls the artist’s attention to port and river scenes, where the ordinary—skiffs, hulls, masts—becomes material for composition.

Formal / stylistic description

The painting juxtaposes a band of water and a quay animated by boats in the foreground; in the middle ground rise houses with red roofs and the vertical bell tower that dominates the whole. Repeated masts draw a rhythmic grid set against the horizontal line of the bank.

The paint proceeds through clear blocks of colour: ochres and reds for the architecture, blues and greens for the water and shadows. Drawing remains perceptible but is integrated into the brushwork, lending the scene both vibration and immediate legibility.

Comparative analysis / related works

The work belongs to Breuillaud’s corpus of ports, marines, and riverside views, where the verticality of masts counterpoints the waterline. One finds his method of construction through chromatic blocks: boats are treated as solid forms, while the water becomes a field of variations.

Compared with more atmospheric urban views, this composition emphasises density of motif: the space is tightened and the repetition of masts establishes a rhythm close to that of his barque scenes of the 1940s.

Justification of dating and attribution

The date 1945 accords with the supple handling and the balance sought between spontaneity and construction. The palette, more forthright, highlights contrasts between warm tones (ochres, reds) and cool tones (blues, greens), characteristic of his landscapes of the immediate post-war period.

The attribution to André Breuillaud rests on stylistic constants: geometric simplification of volumes, the structuring of space through broad diagonals and the repetition of verticals, and the integration of drawing into the brushstroke.

Provenance / exhibitions / publications

Private collection*.