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Lot Essay
At the age of 16 Willem Paerels leaves his hometown Delft to become an artist in Brussels. After one day at the academy he decides that he is not cut out for this form of academic training. The early years as an artist are not easy, although he has several jobs, it is hard to make ends meet. For a brief period he has to return to his parents in The Hague. Painting remains his true passion and soon he returns to Brussels. His early works clearly show the influence of impressionism, with which he came into contact through several trips to Paris.
Gradually Paerels becomes more successful as a painter. In 1902 he moves to Sint-Catharina-Lombeek, but often returns to his beloved Brussels and his family in The Hague. Lots 11, 14 and 17 are clear examples of his early impressionism. When around 1912 Paerels comes into contact with the Belgian art dealer Georges Giroux, who had just opened his gallery, he is already a successful artist. In 1913 Giroux and Paerels come to a financial agreement, similar to the contract he made with the artist Rik Wouters (see lot 197). This gave Paerels more financial and artistic freedom.
When in 1914 during one of the trips to his parents in The Hague, World War I breaks out, Paerels is forced to stay in the Netherlands throughout the war. He rents a large apartment in Scheveningen, where he becomes befriended with many fellow refugees like for instance Rik Wouters and Frans Smeers. These contacts as well as the influence of the war bring a transition in his work. The use of colour, and applied technique still show the character traits of impressionism, the work of these years (lot 12) can be seen a clear examples of this important transitional period. The result of this search is the delightful blend of impressionism and Paerels' careful steps towards more fauvist paintings (lot 10). His friend the writer Jan Greshoff states: "Within the artistic evolution of Willem Paerels the war formed a breaking point between two phases bound by a period of transition, search and doubt."(Serge Goyens de Heusch,Het impressionisme en het fauvisme in België, Antwerpen 1988, p.374.)
Gradually Paerels becomes more successful as a painter. In 1902 he moves to Sint-Catharina-Lombeek, but often returns to his beloved Brussels and his family in The Hague. Lots 11, 14 and 17 are clear examples of his early impressionism. When around 1912 Paerels comes into contact with the Belgian art dealer Georges Giroux, who had just opened his gallery, he is already a successful artist. In 1913 Giroux and Paerels come to a financial agreement, similar to the contract he made with the artist Rik Wouters (see lot 197). This gave Paerels more financial and artistic freedom.
When in 1914 during one of the trips to his parents in The Hague, World War I breaks out, Paerels is forced to stay in the Netherlands throughout the war. He rents a large apartment in Scheveningen, where he becomes befriended with many fellow refugees like for instance Rik Wouters and Frans Smeers. These contacts as well as the influence of the war bring a transition in his work. The use of colour, and applied technique still show the character traits of impressionism, the work of these years (lot 12) can be seen a clear examples of this important transitional period. The result of this search is the delightful blend of impressionism and Paerels' careful steps towards more fauvist paintings (lot 10). His friend the writer Jan Greshoff states: "Within the artistic evolution of Willem Paerels the war formed a breaking point between two phases bound by a period of transition, search and doubt."(Serge Goyens de Heusch,Het impressionisme en het fauvisme in België, Antwerpen 1988, p.374.)