DOI Heft:
Nr. 77 (August 1899)
DOI Artikel:Mourey, Gabriel: The work of Emile Claus
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19232#0177
Emile Claus
“ LE RETOUR DU MARCHE ”
{By permission of M. Schlesinger)
BY EMILE CLAUS
was seized with a mad longing to paint the sweet
fresh scenes around me, the vengeful shades of
Rubens and Van Dyck would suddenly appear before
my imagination, like Banquo’s ghost before Mac-
beth. These were the scarecrows with which the
professors at the Academy drove away our fancies.
However, I was secretly engaged on a Porteiise de
Pain, a somewhat unacademic subject, as you may
imagine. As a precaution my model was careful
to take off her big boots before entering the
studio. But all in vain ! De Keyser discovered
me one day in full perpetration of my crime.
While congratulating me on my work, and en-
couraging me with extreme kindness, he neverthe-
less brought before my eyes the vengeful spectres
of Rubens and Van Dyck, concluding with the
recommendation to devote myself seriously to the
task of competing for the Prix de Rome. I was
weak enough to promise, but soon repented of
what I had done. On my way home I strolled
along the quays of the Scheldt. It was a lovely
sunny afternoon. Everything was glowing with
life; and my true self revived at the sight.
Directly I got home, and while still under the
influence of the magic scene, I wrote a letter to
my master, telling him not to count on me, as I
had decided not to enter for the Prix de Rome. I
forget most of the reasons I urged in justification
of my action, but I remember my letter ended with
the words, 11 cannot, I will not, paint Greeks and
Romans.’ That was the end of it. I was free.”
Free he was, certainly; but it needed years of
labour and rare strength of character to rid the
young artist of the adverse influences which had
beset him, and to free him from the academic
yoke under which he had groaned. The works of
Emile Claus in his first manner—that is, those pro-
duced between 1874 and 1889—show a state of
conflict between his own temperament and the
methods of expression imposed on him by his
instructors. This antagonism resulted for the
most part in failure, sometimes in semi-failure,
never in absolute success. The taste of the day
was all for genre pictures, anecdotal subjects,
character scenes, treated conventionally in colours
not less conventional. Nevertheless, Claus was at
this period one of the most popular of Antwerp
painters. Apart from his subject pictures, Richesse
et Pauvrete, Le Chemin des Ecoliers, and others, he
executed numerous portraits. In fact he became
149
“ LE RETOUR DU MARCHE ”
{By permission of M. Schlesinger)
BY EMILE CLAUS
was seized with a mad longing to paint the sweet
fresh scenes around me, the vengeful shades of
Rubens and Van Dyck would suddenly appear before
my imagination, like Banquo’s ghost before Mac-
beth. These were the scarecrows with which the
professors at the Academy drove away our fancies.
However, I was secretly engaged on a Porteiise de
Pain, a somewhat unacademic subject, as you may
imagine. As a precaution my model was careful
to take off her big boots before entering the
studio. But all in vain ! De Keyser discovered
me one day in full perpetration of my crime.
While congratulating me on my work, and en-
couraging me with extreme kindness, he neverthe-
less brought before my eyes the vengeful spectres
of Rubens and Van Dyck, concluding with the
recommendation to devote myself seriously to the
task of competing for the Prix de Rome. I was
weak enough to promise, but soon repented of
what I had done. On my way home I strolled
along the quays of the Scheldt. It was a lovely
sunny afternoon. Everything was glowing with
life; and my true self revived at the sight.
Directly I got home, and while still under the
influence of the magic scene, I wrote a letter to
my master, telling him not to count on me, as I
had decided not to enter for the Prix de Rome. I
forget most of the reasons I urged in justification
of my action, but I remember my letter ended with
the words, 11 cannot, I will not, paint Greeks and
Romans.’ That was the end of it. I was free.”
Free he was, certainly; but it needed years of
labour and rare strength of character to rid the
young artist of the adverse influences which had
beset him, and to free him from the academic
yoke under which he had groaned. The works of
Emile Claus in his first manner—that is, those pro-
duced between 1874 and 1889—show a state of
conflict between his own temperament and the
methods of expression imposed on him by his
instructors. This antagonism resulted for the
most part in failure, sometimes in semi-failure,
never in absolute success. The taste of the day
was all for genre pictures, anecdotal subjects,
character scenes, treated conventionally in colours
not less conventional. Nevertheless, Claus was at
this period one of the most popular of Antwerp
painters. Apart from his subject pictures, Richesse
et Pauvrete, Le Chemin des Ecoliers, and others, he
executed numerous portraits. In fact he became
149