Galerie Oscar De Vos

Masterpiece of the school of Laethem

On a long, seemingly endless country road, a man and a child are pushing a caravan. As if worn down by the weight of the caravan, which is neither really their home nor their workplace, they seem to be moving forward aimlessly. With The Caravan, Constant Permeke offers a brilliant representation of the hardship of country life. The sober and severe atmosphere, the earth tones of his palette, with brown and black hues predominating, the lack of perspective as well as the linear features of the bodies all serve to express stark poverty. Surprisingly, the features of the man’s back and hands as well as of the child’s feet have been left as a sketch, further accentuating the misery of the scene.

Constant Permeke concentrates less on the details of the individual than on the life of the vagabond in general; thanks to the undefined space and time in which the image is set, The Caravan enjoys universal significance. The almost monochrome quality of the composition reinforces the desperate resignation of the figures.

The Caravan, 1928
Constant Permeke
Oil on canvas

Exhibited by Galerie Oscar de Vos (Belgium) - stand no. 26