International studio (54.1914/1915)

Belgian Artists in England

Belgian artists in Eng¬
land. BY P. BUSCHMANN.
[Dr. Buschmann is Editor of our esteemed
contemporary, “ L’Art Flamand et Holla-ndais,”
and, like the artists of whom he writes, has been
compelled to seek refuge, in England. For ob-
vious reasons it has been impossible to include
reproductions of the works of all the artists he
mentions, but we hope to supplement those now
given by a few more in our next issue.]
Whilst the German army has been busy de-
stroying or spoiling the art treasures of Belgium,
the English people have been quick to offer an
asylum to the distressed Belgium artists, who have
come amongst them under such tragic circum-
stances, and to cheer them up in the adversity
which has befallen them. In doing so with such
wholeheartedness, England follows a noble tra-
dition. It is not the first time that people from the
Lower Lands - by-the-Sea
have crossed the Channel,
flying from fire and steel,
from plunder and tyranny.
During the religious perse-
cution of the sixteenth
century in the Netherlands
a crowd of refugees came
over here, and amongst
them were many artists of
note. It is no glory for
Germany to remind us of
the bloody achievements
of the abhorred Duke of
Alva.
But also in times of peace
England has ever patron-
ised our artists. A King
of England, Charles I,
knighted both our most
renowned painters, Rubens
and Van Dyck,* and there
* Our readers maj' be in-
terested in the following
appreciation of England, trans-
lated from a letter written by
Rubens from London, August
8, 1629, to his friend Pierre
Dupuy . . . . “ This Isle ap-
pears to be a scene worthy of
the curiosity of every Gentle¬
man, not only on account of
the charm of the country and
the beauty of the nation ; not

is scarcely a manor in the kingdom which has not at
one time or other screened some precious Flemish
work. Every student of this art is acquainted with
the most famous names of the English nobility, as
they belong nearly all to lovers and collectors of
the great artistic productions of our country.
The Flemish masters, in their turn, left their
mark upon artistic life in England. We need not
insist upon the role of Sir Anthony Van Dyck as
a court painter to Charles the First. Even the
most renowned English eighteenth-century painters
paid their tribute to his genius, and every one knows
Gainsborough’s last words, spoken to Reynolds :
“We are all going to heaven and Van Dyck is of
the company.”
During the following century the Flemish
only, for the splendour of outer culture, which seems
to be extreme, revealing a wealthy and sumptuous people,
living in peace, but also for the overwhelming quantity of
excellent pictures, sculptures and antique inscriptions to
be found about this court. . . .”

“fishing-boat in nieuport channel”
FROM A WATER-COLOUR BY ALEXANDRE MARCETTE
183