Burial in My Own Neighbourhood

A funeral is in progress in the courtyard of the convent in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, the painter’s home town. The mournful atmosphere is heightened by the fallow, reddish-brown fields stretching out behind the building. Visible in the distance, against a backdrop of dark hills, is a steam train chugging along, releasing billows of aqua blue smoke. Denis built up his landscape by juxtaposing pure, unmixed colours separated by dark lines.