Gromaire settled in Aubusson (in the Creuse region, near center of France) during the Second World War. In this particular historical context, he produced drawings and landscapes that capture the topography, the woods, the fields and the hamlets with the economy of means and the formal gravity characteristic of his language.
During these Creuse years, his palette is restrained, his line taut and energetic, with a particular attention to the structure of the landscape rather than to picturesque anecdote:

Gromaire turns the Creuse into a plastic motif composed of lines and rhythmic masses that nourish his work.

Thus, with the triangular roofs, the angular riverbanks and the sinuous flow of water, everything here seems to fall into place along a living diagonal of colours and contrasts.