The Namur painter and engraver, Louis Decoeur (1884-1960) became a member of “L’Effort” around 1910. This artist’s association provided a free studio for painters in Brussels, on the first floor of a building located at Quai au Bois à Brûler number 31. Here innovative artists who were not appreciated by the official salons were given a forum. The members of “L’Effort” opposed academism. Some names of artists who have worked in the studio spaces of "L'Effort" are: Jean Brusselmans, Henri Ramah, Ferdinand Schirren, Louis Thévenet and Rik Wouters. Many painters who came together at the Quai au Bois à Brûler formed a group of Brabant fauvists. Just like the fauvists, Decoeur paints clearly defined areas of color. In this work he uses the cloisonné style in which he outlines his shapes with noticeable black contours. His synthetic style evolves towards an expressionism which sometimes recalls the work of Brusselmans (https://www.kunstveiling.nl/items/dorpzicht-met-wandelaar/321721 and https://www.google.com/search?q=jean+brusselmans&client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=ALeKk00o_VvxbocMYKZr_aIecAYwANLn2A:1618818886258&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwik066l6onwAhUKwKQKHTBKDz4Q_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1440&bih=753&dpr=1#imgrc=0cEUSauiM2hcQM). One of the favorite themes of the expressionists was the 'modern metropolis' and especially the phenomenon of alienation that accompanied it. For this painting, Decoeur also chose the theme of the city, where people walk around anonymously. Unlike many expressionists, he certainly did not leave the laws of classical perspective with a vanishing point in the distance. The synthesis and abstraction of the form is present. Just like photographers, the painter is not afraid to cut off figures, like the two men in the foreground. They serve as repoussoir figures to push the other image elements to the depth.