Description:
Fernand Piet (1869–1942) was a French painter and graphic artist. He studied in the workshops of Cormont, Carrière and Roll, as well as at the Académie “La Grande Chaumière”. He regularly exhibited his works at the Paris Salons, including the Sociéte des Artistes Indépendants. He was friends with Henri Toulouse–Lautrec and the fowists Raoul Dufy and Georges Rouault. In his work, he dealt with genre painting, depicting scenes from the daily life of city and village dwellers. He was called “historiographe de marchés“ by contemporary critics*.

Description of the painting:
The painting “Market in Antwerp“ shows a view of a crowded market square. The foreground is occupied by sellers and buyers. The left and central part of the painting is filled with figures turned away from the viewer. The central point of the work is a woman with a red scarf thrown over her shoulders, who attracts the observer‘s attention. In the lower right corner, the relationships between the participants at the market are shown – a frontal group of three women. The features of the characters‘ faces are indistinct, devoid of details. Between them are baskets filled with products for sale. In the background, on the left side of the painting, there are awnings made of fabric in shades of yellow. The second plane is the city‘s buildings, whose roofs are kept in different colours. The upper part of the painting is occupied by a sky covered with white clouds, between which glimpses of blue are visible.

The composition is created with a sharp, clear outline. The depicted scene seems to be a random frame captured while walking through the city. The characters are presented schematically, because they are not the main subject of the painting. They are only a scenography in which the moment and space are important. Through intense, clear colours, the painting seems dynamic, conveying the bustle of the market. Looking at the painting, it seems like the static second plane emphasizes the noise on the square.