Emile Claus

M. and Mme. Gossen, Antwerp (acquired from the artist, fig. 1); thence by descent to the present owner, great-grandchild of the above

Ghent, Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Emile Claus et la vie rurale, 2009, no. 30
Himeji, City museum of Art; Tokyo, Bunkamura Museum of Art; Miyoshi, Okuda Genso Sayume Art Museum; Lights of Flanders, 2010-11, no. 38

Camille Lemonnier, Emile Claus, Brussels, 1908, p. 57, listed (incorrectly dated 1893)

This painting is in good original condition, clean, fresh and ready to hang. The canvas is unlined, with the artist's original signature and date visible on the verso. Under ultra-violet light there are some signs of blue-green fluorescence which certainly appear to relate to the artist's original pigments, and there are no visible signs of retouching. In some minor areas, notably the standing lady's dress and the chair, there are possible signs of light surface abrasion however the paint surface is otherwise well preserved, with strong impasto in for example the still life on the table. The colours in reality are more luminous than in the catalogue illustration, with more richness in the greens. Presented in a substantial gilt frame (probably the original, and the same as illustrated in the black and white interior photograph in the catalogue).
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An iconic image of a balmy summer’s evening on the banks of the river Lys (Leie) in August 1895, the present work depicts two immaculately-attired ladies conversing over an elegant tea by the water’s edge. Behind them on the opposite side of the river, poplars march in rows, as the wide expanse of the river flows languidly downstream. The bold brushwork and luminous palette in this large composition, executed after Claus had moved away from the academic naturalism of Bastien-Lepage in favour of plein airisme, reveal the influences of Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Henri Le Sidaner. In the 1890s Claus came to be recognised as the central exponent of Belgian Luminisme, a movement which sought to integrate Parisian Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist techniques and subjects into a distinctively Belgian tradition. 

The banks of the Lys were the setting of many of Claus' most important works. In 1883 the artist settled in the Villa Zonneschijn (Sunshine), an old hunting pavillion in Astene, outside Ghent. His house beside the river, in the grounds of which the present work was painted, became a haven for artists and writers, such as Symbolist poet Emile Verhaeren who wrote of Claus: 'His art is sure, clear and ceaselessly in search of air, light and life. It commands respect in this country as the art of a Master' (World Impressionism: The International Movement, New York, 1990, p. 261). The ladies in the present work could well be two of the artists' students who often spent time at Villa Zonneschijn, including Jenny Montigny, Georges Buysse, and Modest Huys. The view is one of the most panoramic and harmonious in Claus' oeuvre, bearing comparison with Soir de juin of twelve years later, depicting almost the same view (fig. 2).