André Brasilier, *Avant l'orage*, oil on canvas, 61 × 38 cm (24 × 15 in.), 2016

This is a 2016 oil painting titled "Before the Storm" by André Brasilier (b. 1929). It depicts a tense scene where a herd of black horses and their riders gallop across a sandy landscape, beneath a sky covered in wild, swirling grey and white brushstrokes.

As the title suggests, the unsettling sky hints at an impending storm, and the dynamic movement of the galloping horses, seemingly in response to it, imbues the entire canvas with powerful drama. The free brushwork, which blurs outlines, is characteristic of Brasilier's later style, moving between figuration and abstraction. The painting highlights the instinctive power and beauty of the horses in the face of nature's threat—a stormy sky.

Within a subdued, almost monochrome palette, only the subtle ochre of the ground adds warmth to the scene, creating a poetic world where tension and tranquility coexist.