Fougeron was the leading artist associated with the French Communist Party in the early 1950s. This is a portrait of his wife. By surrounding her with the details of their own modest domestic interior - the loaf and vegetables, the standard tiling and utilitarian sink - he indicates a simple life of material struggle. And by applying the precision of his ''new French realism'' to his own family and home, Fougeron emphasises his role as artist of the people.