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拍品专文
Venice, 1906, Belgian painter Émile Claus temporarily left behind his native Belgium to enjoy the City of Doges. Considered to be the leader of the Belgian impressionist movement, there he distinguished himself as a worthy heir to Monet and created some of his most important works.
After gaining notice in the 1880s and trying his hand at pointillism and divisionism, Claus began to delve more deeply into pictorial investigations that were almost entirely focused on light. In 1904, he created the Belgian artists' group, Vie et Lumière. The group – a real milestone in the history of Belgian art – brought together artists with similar aesthetic pursuits: they were all experimenting with a new, luminous way of painting. Émile Claus, Georges Lemmen, Georges Morren and James Ensor also sought to organise an annual salon that would not rely on official juries, unlike the events held in France. It was in France, moreover, that Claus had met Monet, with whom he had struck up a friendship and who set him on a path toward innovative aesthetic work. Thanks to this influence and Claus's many connections to France, impressionism got its second wind in Belgium around 1904-1905.
Thus, Clause became the leader of a new movement he christened Luminism. This Luminism was closely linked to the Vie et Lumière group and to Claus himself. It was the most accomplished expression of the quest for light and colour in Belgium. This movement synthesised and extended the various French artistic tendencies, by linking traditional impressionism and tempered pointillism, while insisting even more on luminous and atmospheric investigations and by referencing the Belgian pictorial tradition. Indeed, Claus specialised in the depiction of intimate rural scenes and studies in water treatment. The Lys river near his manor, Zonneschijn ("Clear Sun") in Astene, offered up a singular backdrop. It was a source of inspiration to him and a place for him to fine tune his luministic work.
Bolstered by his analysis of light and having perfected his technique, Claus decided to embark on a trip to Venice. After an initial sojourn in 1902, in the winter of 1906 he decided to leave behind the waters of his native Lys in favour of the canals of Venice. He had travelled to Spain, Algeria, Morocco, and even the United States, but in Venice he found a unique atmosphere that bewitched him. The unusual light enthralled him, the reflections on the water of the Grand Canal inflamed his passions and the view of Murano captivated him. The artist who had fallen in love with the City of Doges spent hours upon hours completing several canvases. This painting, Vue de Murano, is not unlike other views the painter created during his stay in Venice, including the exceptional Vue sur Murano, lueur du couchant, which sold at Christie’s in London on 28 February 2018 at a world record price for the artist's work at auction. It has the skilled, even fragmentation of touch and preference for sunny palettes that characterised the new Luministic investigations undertaken by the painter. With these Venetian views, Claus produced a powerful and moving body of work through radiant and luminous effects. The artist adjusted his jittery touch and palette to the changing luminosity as the hours wore on. He began multiple canvases simultaneously: for each of them he would await the return of a fleeting effect or a particular light and carry on with the method he adopted on the banks of the Lys.
These Venetian canvases also foreshadow the views of the Thames which the artist painted during his exile in Great Britain from 1914 to 1919. There is no doubt that these same views of Murano would later influence Claude Monet, who also took a trip to Venice in the autumn of 1908. Although he deemed Murano "too beautiful to paint", he and Claus would share an interest in Venice as a subject.
Furthermore, this painting clearly depicts the mutual influences observed between Émile Claus and Henri Le Sidaner, an old friend who had travelled with him to Venice.
If the present Vue de Murano is an irrefutable manifestation of Claus's interest in the variations in the water's light and reflections, it also attests to the artist's explorations around chromatic variations and the impressionist techniques taken from his French masters. Finally, it speaks to the rain of vibrant light that fell into the artist's palette starting from 1904, when impressionism in Belgium enjoyed a second wind in the early 20th century.
After gaining notice in the 1880s and trying his hand at pointillism and divisionism, Claus began to delve more deeply into pictorial investigations that were almost entirely focused on light. In 1904, he created the Belgian artists' group, Vie et Lumière. The group – a real milestone in the history of Belgian art – brought together artists with similar aesthetic pursuits: they were all experimenting with a new, luminous way of painting. Émile Claus, Georges Lemmen, Georges Morren and James Ensor also sought to organise an annual salon that would not rely on official juries, unlike the events held in France. It was in France, moreover, that Claus had met Monet, with whom he had struck up a friendship and who set him on a path toward innovative aesthetic work. Thanks to this influence and Claus's many connections to France, impressionism got its second wind in Belgium around 1904-1905.
Thus, Clause became the leader of a new movement he christened Luminism. This Luminism was closely linked to the Vie et Lumière group and to Claus himself. It was the most accomplished expression of the quest for light and colour in Belgium. This movement synthesised and extended the various French artistic tendencies, by linking traditional impressionism and tempered pointillism, while insisting even more on luminous and atmospheric investigations and by referencing the Belgian pictorial tradition. Indeed, Claus specialised in the depiction of intimate rural scenes and studies in water treatment. The Lys river near his manor, Zonneschijn ("Clear Sun") in Astene, offered up a singular backdrop. It was a source of inspiration to him and a place for him to fine tune his luministic work.
Bolstered by his analysis of light and having perfected his technique, Claus decided to embark on a trip to Venice. After an initial sojourn in 1902, in the winter of 1906 he decided to leave behind the waters of his native Lys in favour of the canals of Venice. He had travelled to Spain, Algeria, Morocco, and even the United States, but in Venice he found a unique atmosphere that bewitched him. The unusual light enthralled him, the reflections on the water of the Grand Canal inflamed his passions and the view of Murano captivated him. The artist who had fallen in love with the City of Doges spent hours upon hours completing several canvases. This painting, Vue de Murano, is not unlike other views the painter created during his stay in Venice, including the exceptional Vue sur Murano, lueur du couchant, which sold at Christie’s in London on 28 February 2018 at a world record price for the artist's work at auction. It has the skilled, even fragmentation of touch and preference for sunny palettes that characterised the new Luministic investigations undertaken by the painter. With these Venetian views, Claus produced a powerful and moving body of work through radiant and luminous effects. The artist adjusted his jittery touch and palette to the changing luminosity as the hours wore on. He began multiple canvases simultaneously: for each of them he would await the return of a fleeting effect or a particular light and carry on with the method he adopted on the banks of the Lys.
These Venetian canvases also foreshadow the views of the Thames which the artist painted during his exile in Great Britain from 1914 to 1919. There is no doubt that these same views of Murano would later influence Claude Monet, who also took a trip to Venice in the autumn of 1908. Although he deemed Murano "too beautiful to paint", he and Claus would share an interest in Venice as a subject.
Furthermore, this painting clearly depicts the mutual influences observed between Émile Claus and Henri Le Sidaner, an old friend who had travelled with him to Venice.
If the present Vue de Murano is an irrefutable manifestation of Claus's interest in the variations in the water's light and reflections, it also attests to the artist's explorations around chromatic variations and the impressionist techniques taken from his French masters. Finally, it speaks to the rain of vibrant light that fell into the artist's palette starting from 1904, when impressionism in Belgium enjoyed a second wind in the early 20th century.