La Fresnaye painted this vista in 1911, the same year he became closely associated with other Cubist artists working in Paris. For this view of a village north of the city, he repeated the shapes of the buildings and distant fields, creating a network of planes that teeters between flatness and depth. His use of angular, interlocking shapes also reflects the powerful influence of Paul Cézanne.

La Fresnaye softened the rectilinear treatment of the terrain by injecting the lyrical elements of gently curving, buoyant clouds.