George Clausen

it successfully and awoke, as it were, one morning Girl at the Gate. This last was acquired by the
to find himself famous. Chantrey bequest. Through all these the charac-

The picture was hung on the line in the Academy teristics just mentioned are pre-eminently notice-
and attracted the most favourable notice of artists, able, an intense effort to represent the exquisite
critics and the public, and fortunately brought him subtleties of the rustic figure as seen in the open,
in something besides a mere succes d'estime. Even in his Chantrey picture, The Girl at the Gate,

For some years after this he painted scarcely the sentiment is almost obscure in its refinement,
anything but Dutch subjects. But gradually the As to his methods, if genius is the capacity for
conviction began to dawn upon him that there were taking infinite pains, as it has been so defined,
possibilities nearer home. And so strong did this then Mr. Clausen may lay claim to the distinction,
conviction become, that in spite of protests from He has no trade secrets, no mysterious mediums,
friends, patrons and dealers, he at length refused Gifted with a great love of his art and an in-
to paint any more Dutch subjects, although for a domitable perseverance, he spares no pains in his
long time it meant a serious financial loss to him- efforts to represent the truths he sees in Nature,
self. He now passed through what might be and this in the simplest possible manner. The
called his middle period, devoting
himself to English subjects with oc-
casional indoor effects, but more often
street scenes, from which he drifted
slowly into his present, and doubtless
permanent, style.

It is undoubtedly as a painter of
the English peasant under out-of-door
effects that Mr. Clausen is best known,
and upon which his future reputation
will depend. This has been recog-
nised in such art centres as Paris and
Munich, where he has received both
medals and flattering notice, and this
has obtained for him his present dis-
tinction of A.R.A.

Lovers of mysticism in art, of weird
effects, or vague suggestion must seek
it elsewhere than in Mr. Clausen's
work. He holds the mirror up to
nature, whether it be in the delineation
of a ploughed field, a weather-beaten,
wrinkled woman of the fields, a plough-
boy or a country maiden. He puts
them before you with all the infinitely
delicate effects of atmosphere, with the
reality of truth, with the simplicity of
nature. He expresses plainly the
poetry, the charm, which he himself has
discovered in the subtle colour and
modelling of a labourer's face, in the
pearly greys of a fallow field or a bit
of stubble, even in the tints and tones
of a smock-frock or a corduroy
trouser. Among the more important
works of his later period are The
Mowers, Evening Song, Turning the
Plough, Labourers after Dinner,
Brown Eyes, The JJloughboy, and The "la pensee " by george clausen, a.r.a.