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| The River Lys in Astene 1885 |
During a visit to Bruges I stumbled across the Belgium artist Emile Claus. Born on September 27th 1849 he brought a breath of fresh air into a very religious laden art gallery ; Groeningmuseum. There was something about his use of light, that instantly appealed, as well as his subject matter; often the river Lys.
On my return home I delved into more of this artist's work and wasn't disappointed. There is a very impressionist feel to many of his works. Some almost have a Gauguin quality.
His father wanted him to become a baker and he was sent away to study how in Lille. Fortunately for the art world he failed as a baker, although did learn to speak French. Eventually his father was prevailed upon to allow him to study in Antwerp, at the Antwerp academy of fine art.
He lived and studied in Antwerp paying his own way and moved in 1883 to a cottage close by the River Lys. The light and space in his new location led to many of his works of art.
He was much influenced by the work of Claude Monet and adopted the style of luminism.
He spent much of his life travelling ,until the outbreak of the First World War ,when he settled in London until 1918. He died not long after in 1924 in Belgium. More information about this artist can be found here. A YouTube slide show of his work can be found here.
I have selected just a few, of many beautiful artworks. These appealed to me because of the stories them seemed to tell. I hope you enjoy my February selection, as much as I do. What do you think of Claus' work?
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| The Passing Boat |
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| Young peasant women beside the River Lys |
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| On the school road |
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| The Pic-nic 1887 |
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| The Old gardener |
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| The Ice Birds 1891 |
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| Antwerp Market |
If you have an artist or painting you would like to share please add a link below. It's lovely to find out about new artists from around the world. Thanks to Riitta I have learnt about quite a few Finnish artists. I look forward to your links.
Barbara xxx
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