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Lot Essay
Si le séjour d'Emile Claus à Londres de 1914 à 1919 a été contraint par la guerre, ses expérimentations artistiques ont été fortement influencées par cette période. L'artiste travaille alors inlassablement, et ce malgré son âge avancé, et voit en la Tamise une inépuisable source d'inspiration. Comme en témoigne la présente œuvre, Claus élabore de son atelier improvisé dans une petite tour, une série d'œuvres dans laquelle ce fleuve apparaît comme le théâtre des explorations luministes de l'artiste et l'emblème de l'effervescence de la ville. L'artiste nous livre alors un précieux témoignage de Londres, de ses changements atmosphériques si subtils, rendus par une lumière brumeuse et délicate.
Although his stay in London from 1914 to 1919 was forced upon him by the war, Emile Claus underwent a remarkable artistic development there. Despite his advanced years he must have worked feverishly for a period of almost four years. The River Thames was an inexhaustible source of inspiration for an elaborate series of river scenes, while he was also drawn to the hectic life of the city. From an improvised studio in a small tower, Claus painted the changing atmospheric moods of the river and life on the wharf. In London his vivid Luminism changed and expressed itself in misty cityscapes painted in subdued colours.
Although his stay in London from 1914 to 1919 was forced upon him by the war, Emile Claus underwent a remarkable artistic development there. Despite his advanced years he must have worked feverishly for a period of almost four years. The River Thames was an inexhaustible source of inspiration for an elaborate series of river scenes, while he was also drawn to the hectic life of the city. From an improvised studio in a small tower, Claus painted the changing atmospheric moods of the river and life on the wharf. In London his vivid Luminism changed and expressed itself in misty cityscapes painted in subdued colours.