Description
The eye is immediately drawn by a white horse in the lower center of the painting. It stands out with its rider against a dark grey at the bottom of the painting and a light building at its back. Here, only a part of the horse’s rump is truly white.
The eye, then, is taken on the top of the pointed roof, where a second true white point is, as if some snow remains here. Our eye is going above this point, toward mountains standing in the distance.
A bright green tree stands on the left of the painting to contrast and balance with the red brick barn-like building on the right.
Then, we start noticing the various characters in the painting, starting with a couple discussing with the white horse rider. Like the horse rider, they are painted with some details. The other characters, kids under the tree, a mom and her child coming out of the brick building, a couple at the window of the pointed roof house, and two other village people busy with their own activities, are drawn with much less detail.
All the colors are soft, and the lines are subtle.
The painting is built like a picture taken at a precise moment in the village square, as you can feel the characters are in movement, frozen on the canvas. A. Lugardon’s passion for photography and research for instant photos can be seen in the organization of this scene.