Emile Claus (Belgium, 1849-1924)

 

Fog Lanterns in the mist (1916-18)

Oil on canvas, 42.8 x 45.7 cm.

Emile Claus (27 September 1849 – 14 June 1924) was a Belgian painter known for his luminous and impressionistic style. Here are some key points about his life and work:

1. Early Life and Education:

   • Born in Sint-Eloois-Vijve, a village in West Flanders, Belgium.
   • His father was a grocer-publican, and his mother came from a Brabant skipper’s family.
   • As a child, Claus loved drawing and attended the Academy of Waregem to learn how to draw.

2. Artistic Journey:

   • Despite his father’s reservations, Claus pursued an artistic career.
   • He trained at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts after convincing his father with the help of composer Peter Benoit.
   • Claus settled in Astene, near Deinze, Belgium, where he drew inspiration from the countryside.

3. Luminist Style:

   • Claus developed the distinct style of Luminism, characterized by its emphasis on light and color.
   • His paintings often depict serene landscapes, capturing the play of light on water, fields, and trees.

4. Influences and Connections:

   • Claus befriended renowned figures like French sculptor Auguste Rodin and naturalist Émile Zola.
   • He traveled globally to exhibit his work and gained recognition as a celebrity artist.

5. Relationships:

   • The painter Jenny Montigny played a significant role in Claus’s life, attending master classes at his workshop.
   • Despite their age difference, they shared a relationship that lasted until Claus’s death.

6. Notable Works:

   • Some of his famous paintings include:
     • “The Ice Birds”
     • “Bringing in the Nets”
     • “First Communion”
     • “Hay Stacks”
     • “Summer”

7. Legacy:

   • Claus’s luminist approach influenced Belgian art and left a lasting impact on the country’s artistic landscape.

For a deeper exploration of Emile Claus’s art, you can visit the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels or explore more of his works on WikiArt

Corneille (Belgium, 1922-2010)

Peinture (1952) 
oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm

Corneille was the pseudonym of the Dutch painter Kees van Dongen, who was a leading figure in the Fauvist movement in the early 20th century. Van Dongen was born in Delfshaven, Netherlands, in 1877 and later moved to Paris, where he became known for his vibrant, expressive paintings of fashionable women and society scenes. He was a member of the Fauvist movement, which was characterized by the use of bright, bold colors and expressive brushwork. Van Dongen's work was highly sought after and he exhibited widely throughout Europe and the United States. In addition to his work as a painter, he was also a printmaker and illustrator, and his work can be found in many major art museums around the world.

Jan De Vliegher (Belgium, b. 1964)

 

 Beach (2007) 
oil on canvas 60 x 90 cm

Jan De Vliegher is a Belgian painter and artist who was born in 1964. He is known for his highly detailed, realistic paintings, which often depict landscapes, still lifes, and figures in a highly realistic style. De Vliegher has exhibited his work in galleries and museums around the world, and his paintings are held in numerous private and public collections. He has also received numerous awards and accolades for his work, and has been featured in numerous publications and media outlets. 

In addition to his work as a painter, De Vliegher is also an educator, and has taught workshops and classes on painting and art.

Louis Van Lint (Belgian,1909-1986)

Dunes (1938)

watercolour on paper 23.7 x 31 cm

White self-portrait, 1957

Oil on canvas, 100 x 80,5 cm

Louis Van Lint was a Belgian painter and graphic artist. He was born in 1909 and passed away in 1986. Van Lint was known for his expressionistic paintings, which often featured distorted and abstracted figures. He was also a printmaker and created a number of lithographs and etchings. Van Lint was a member of the Belgian Surrealist group, and his work was influenced by Surrealism as well as Expressionism. He exhibited his work widely in Belgium and internationally, and his work can be found in museum collections around the world.

Harold Ancart (Belgian, b. 1980)

 

Untitled 2017

A Belgian artist: Anne Bonnet (1908-1960)

Composition N° 25, 1952

Anne Bonnet née Thonet (16 May 1908 – 14 November 1960) was a Belgian painter.

Bonnet was born in Brussels and began her studies in art in 1924, but abandoned them in 1926 on the death of her parents. In 1930 she married Louis Bonnet, a dealer in silk, and her financial situation allowed her to return to art. In 1936 she resumed art studies under Jacques Maes and held her first exhibition in 1938.

Originally influenced by realists such as James Ensor, she later adopted a geometric style of landscape painting, which became increasingly abstract, inviting comparisons with Paul Klee.

Her work was selected to be on show at the Documenta II exhibition in Kassel alongside other Belgian abstract artists like Henri Michaux, Michel Seuphor and Marc Mendelsohn. She was represented by three artworks: Vestiges (1956), Vestiges Grises (1956) and Hélianthes (1957).

Exhibitions of her work have been frequent since her death, including a major series in 1963 at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and at the Art museums of Liège and Charleroi.

Her iconic La ville d'or is held by the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.

Hubert Malfait

Hubert Malfait (Belgian, 1898-1971)

Horse riding in the dunes (Promenade à cheval dans les dunes), 1958

a Belgian neo-impressionist painter: Georges Lemmen

Heyst No.9 The Beach, 1891

La Chemise enlevée

Georges Lemmenv was a Belgian neo-impressionist painter. 

He was a member of Les XX from 1888.

Firmin Baes

Firmin Baes  (Belgian, 1874-1945)

  Nelly

Firmin Baes (born 1874 in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium – died 1943 in Brussels, Belgium) was a Belgian painter.

Baes was the son of Henri Baes, a lecturer at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, and Héloïse Boly. He had two sisters, Alice and Irma. Baes was brought up in an artistically inclined family. He studied at the Académie Royale and was involved in an intellectual circle known as La Patte de Dindon, named after a cafe of the same name in the Grand Place, Brussels.

Fernand Toussaint

Fernand Toussaint  (Belgian, 1873-1956)

Paysage au bord de l’eau, Aquarelle sur papier, 1898

Fernand Toussaint (1873–1956) was a Belgian painter.

He was born in Brussels. He studied art with Jean-François Portaels and at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts. At the age of eighteen he left for Paris to continue his studies there. He specialised in painting portraits of women, still lifes and city-scapes, in the Impressionist, Art nouveau, and Post-Impressionist styles.

He died in the Brussels suburb of Elsene.

Leon De Smet

Leon De Smet (Belgium1881-1966)

 The Russian Dancer Vera Nemchinova Performing Les Biches (c.1925)

oil on canvas 105.5 x 83 cm

Emmanuel Viérin (Belgian, 1869 - 1954)

Canal in Dordrecht, 1914

Emmanuel Viérin was a Belgian painter known for his landscape and still life paintings. He was born in 1869 in Brussels and studied art at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Viérin was a member of the Société Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and exhibited his work widely in Belgium and France. His work is held in numerous public and private collections, including the Musée d'Ixelles in Brussels and the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tournai. Viérin's paintings are known for their meticulous attention to detail and their subtle, delicate colors, and he often depicted scenes from the countryside and everyday life. He died in 1954 at the age of 85.

Fernand Verhaegen

Fernand Verhaegen (Belgian, 1883-1975)

Vue de Méditérannée. Pastel on paper, 26 x 31 cm.

Alfons Proost

Alfons Proost (Belgian, 1880 - 1957)

Soleil couchant, 1924

 Low Tide (Marée basse), 1945

A Belgian artist: Richard Heintz

Cascade de Coo

Temps venteux

Le Vésuve vu de Sorrente

Richard Heintz, né le 25 octobre 1871 à Herstal, et mort le 26 mai 1929 à Sy (commune de Ferrières), est un peintre impressionniste belge.

C'est le grand peintre paysagiste du massif ardennais : il peut être considéré comme l'un des artistes liégeois les plus importants de sa génération.

"Je ne vis que pour peindre cette si belle et si difficile nature; n'est-ce point là ma seule raison d'être?" Richard Heintz, 1915.

Léon Spilliaert (Belgian, 1881-1946)

Ostende (1916)

Pastel on paper

Little Red Riding Hood (Le petit chaperon rouge), 1917

Pont près de Zandvoorde, 1930

The Pond (L’Étang), 1936

Léon Spilliaert (28 July 1881 – 23 November 1946) was a Belgian symbolist painter and graphic artist.

Spilliaert was born in Ostend, the oldest of seven children of Léonard-Hubert Spilliaert, who was a perfumer, and Léonie. From childhood, he displayed an interest in art and drawing. A prolific doodler and autodidact, he was predominantly a self-taught artist. Sickly and reclusive, he spent most of his youth sketching scenes of ordinary life and the Belgian countryside. When he was 21, he went to work in Brussels for Edmond Deman, a publisher of the works of symbolist writers, which Spilliaert was to illustrate. He especially admired the work of Edgar Allan Poe.

Watercolor, gouache, pastel, and charcoal—often in combination—were the means by which he produced many of his best works, among which are a number of monochrome self-portraits executed in the early years of the twentieth century. Spilliaert's expressive use of black finds parallels in the work of Odilon Redon, who was a significant influence. Frequently depicting a lone figure in a dreamlike space, Spilliaert's paintings convey a sense of melancholy and silence.

His later work shows a concentration on seascapes. He died on 23 November 1946 in Brussels.

A Belgian artist: Constant Permeke

Landscape

Constant Permeke (31 July 1886 – 4 January 1952) was a Belgian painter and sculptor who is considered the leading figure of Flemish expressionism.

more on wiki/Constant_Permeke

Neo-impressionism: Théo van Rysselberghe

 Théo Van Rysselberghe (Belgian, 1862 - 1926)

The Finish of the Race (1884)

Cherries

Portrait of Octave Maus as a Dandy (1885)

After the Bath (1896)

Seated Nude (1905)



 La Vigne en octobre (1912)

Model Resting, 1914

Nude Woman, 1916

Funds of St. Clair, 1921

Nude with Panama Hat (1924)

oil on canvas, 100 x 80 cm

Girl in Bath (also known as Jeune ville au tub), circa 1925

View of Meknes, Morocco

Beach at Sunset

Bathers

 Model Resting

Jeune femme à contrejour

 Miss Gertrude

Sweet Peas

 The Model Siesta

Théo (Théophile) van Rysselberghe (1862 – 1926) was a Belgian neo-impressionist painter, who played a pivotal role in the European art scene at the turn of the century.

source: wikipedia

James Ensor, Marine au nuage blanc

Marine au nuage blanc, 1884

Rooftops of Ostend (also known as Grand View of Ostend), 1884

Brussels Town Hall, 1885

Large Seascape-Sunset

James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for almost his entire life. He was associated with the artistic group Les XX.