Lot 31
  • 31

Emile Claus

Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 USD
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Description

  • Emile Claus
  • Le Saule
  • signed Em. Claus (lower left); inscribed Junij / J.D / E.C. (on the reverse)
  • oil on canvas
  • 18 3/8 by 21 5/8 in.
  • 48 by 55 cm

Provenance

Collection of Katherine Roelker Wulsin, Paris (possibly acquired directly from the artist)
Thence by descent

Condition

Unlined. Visible craquelure is slightly raised in the sky. Under UV: no inpainting apparent.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Emile Claus was born in Vive-Saint-Eloi, Belgium, to a working family of limited means and a limited appreciation of their child’s artistic ambitions. He was forbidden from pursuing his painting talents from a young age and became a baker’s apprentice. After his quick dismissal from this vocation, he then became a construction supervisor on the railways, and later a linseed merchant. It was not until the famous musician, Peter Benoit, persuaded Claus’ father to not let his son’s talents go to waste that he enrolled him in the Antwerp Academy for Fine Art (Mart Bierme, “Emile Claus,” The International Studio, November, 1915, vol. 57, no. 226, p. 80). Exhibitions and admiration found Claus quickly and he gained a reputation as a landscape artist, tending towards the naturalistic style.

From 1883, Claus painted at Astene, near Deinze, on the banks of the river Lys in an old hunting pavilion which he later turned into his home, Zonneschijn (Sunshine). It was here that he turned to plein air painting under the influence of Claude Lemonnier, who encouraged him to break free from academic constraints and to temper his naturalism with a more colorful and luminous palette. Claus spent winters in Paris from 1889 through 1891 and developed lasting friendships with Impressionist painters such as Henri  Martin, Henri Le Sidaner and Anders Zorn. This would have a significant impact on his painterly style, as illustrated by the present work of 1904, just as travel through Spain and North Africa would impact his color palette, and laid the foundation for Claus’s connection to neo-Impressionism and Zonneschijn’s centrality to the Flemish school of Luminist painters.