Portrait of Postman Cheval

The Portrait of Postman Cheval is a collage. Sketched out in places, intense, and somewhat dark in nature, it is representative of the artist's other work. Postman Cheval is recognizable by his cap, but knocked out of sorts by long rectangular cuts covering his face. Around him, smudges of different shades of gray give the composition a hazy appearance. As if immersed in an endless reverie, the naive builder seems to be split by his own thoughts. Michel Batlle likes to create a toing and froing between archaic man—still marked by "his long animal heredity"—and the rational, "civilized" man of science.