.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
At the occasion of the world exhibition of 1913 in Ghent, Frits Van den Berghe and Gustave De Smet where commissioned to paint canvases for the dome of the Grand Palais, under the guidance of Jean Delvin. The four seasons was the theme of a series of paintings, of which the present lot Summer was De Smet's contribution.
Born in Ghent in 1881, de Smet studied in the city's Academy of Fine Arts before moving to the artist's colony in St. Martens Latem. It was here that De Smet evolved in his own unique form of Luminism. De Smet became an important member of the group Vie et Lumière, formed around 1904 under the leadership of Emile Claus, George Morren and Adrien Joseph Heymans and which united artists whose common desire was 'to paint light'. (M. Stevens & R. Hoozee (eds.), Impressionism to Symbolism: The Belgian Avant-Garde 1880-1900, exh. cat., London 1994, p. 77).
Summer shows a young, partially dressed woman striding through a garden filled with summer flowers. A swarm of shades and brush strokes forms a vibrant composition. The woman being completely introverted, symbolizing summer in its full glory. With this monumental canvas De Smet connects to the work of Gustav Klimt. The representation of the woman's exuberant transparent dress, the colourful blossoms, roses and poppies and the decorative charm, are most probably the result of the acquaintance with the work of the Austrian artist, which De Smet was introduced to through Jugend art magazine. Klimt and contemporaries like Lovis Corinth would have an influence on both Gustave De Smet and Frits van den Berghe. (P. Boyens, 1989, op.cit., p. 93)
Summer shows the delight which De Smet took in rendering surface pattern and reflects, in the application of an effusion of small strokes and dots of paint, the influence which Neo-Impressionism exerted upon the artist.
Born in Ghent in 1881, de Smet studied in the city's Academy of Fine Arts before moving to the artist's colony in St. Martens Latem. It was here that De Smet evolved in his own unique form of Luminism. De Smet became an important member of the group Vie et Lumière, formed around 1904 under the leadership of Emile Claus, George Morren and Adrien Joseph Heymans and which united artists whose common desire was 'to paint light'. (M. Stevens & R. Hoozee (eds.), Impressionism to Symbolism: The Belgian Avant-Garde 1880-1900, exh. cat., London 1994, p. 77).
Summer shows a young, partially dressed woman striding through a garden filled with summer flowers. A swarm of shades and brush strokes forms a vibrant composition. The woman being completely introverted, symbolizing summer in its full glory. With this monumental canvas De Smet connects to the work of Gustav Klimt. The representation of the woman's exuberant transparent dress, the colourful blossoms, roses and poppies and the decorative charm, are most probably the result of the acquaintance with the work of the Austrian artist, which De Smet was introduced to through Jugend art magazine. Klimt and contemporaries like Lovis Corinth would have an influence on both Gustave De Smet and Frits van den Berghe. (P. Boyens, 1989, op.cit., p. 93)
Summer shows the delight which De Smet took in rendering surface pattern and reflects, in the application of an effusion of small strokes and dots of paint, the influence which Neo-Impressionism exerted upon the artist.