The Belgian painter Emile Claus was already enthusiastic about painting as a child. Every Sunday, he walked three kilometers to a neighboring village to attend a drawing school. Although he left this school with high honors, his father was not enthusiastic about the idea of an artist's career for his son and instead sent him to the French city of Lille so that he could begin training as a baker. However, the urge to paint did not leave young Emile Claus and he decided to send a letter asking for help to the well-known composer Peter Benoit, who was a family friend. With some effort, Benoit managed to convince his father to let Claus study at the Academy of Arts in Antwerp. At the age of 33, Claus moved to a cottage called "Zonneschijn" ("Sunshine") in East Flanders, which he lived in for the rest of his life. From his study he had a beautiful view over the river Leie (Lys). The light conditions of his home inspired him in many of his works.
Claus quickly achieved success as a painter and came into contact with other artists. His friends included Auguste Rodin, Émile Zola, and Maurice Maeterlinck, who later won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Claus often traveled around the world to organize exhibitions of his work. Tragedy, which temporarily interrupted his international success, finally came in the form of the First World War. Claus fled to London and found a house on the banks of the Thames. At the end of the war, he returned to Belgium.
The paintings of Emile Claus show a variety of motifs. In his early creative period, he mainly created realistic-looking portraits. Later he was influenced by the French Impressionists such as Claude Monet and slowly moved away from realism to his own personal version of Impressionism. This style, of which Claus is considered a pioneer, is today called Luminism. Significant paintings that date from the formative period of this Luminism are "The Beet Harvest" and "The Kingfishers". Since 2007, these two paintings are on the list of Flemish cultural heritage. "The Beet Harvest" is a painting of gigantic proportions, showing farmers hoeing sugar beets from a frozen field. Claus never sold the painting during his lifetime, and after his death his widow gave it into the possession of the town of Deinze - on the condition that a separate museum would be built to display it. Claus died in 1924 at the age of 64. His last words are said to have been, "Flowers, flowers, flowers ...". He was buried in his own garden.
The Belgian painter Emile Claus was already enthusiastic about painting as a child. Every Sunday, he walked three kilometers to a neighboring village to attend a drawing school. Although he left this school with high honors, his father was not enthusiastic about the idea of an artist's career for his son and instead sent him to the French city of Lille so that he could begin training as a baker. However, the urge to paint did not leave young Emile Claus and he decided to send a letter asking for help to the well-known composer Peter Benoit, who was a family friend. With some effort, Benoit managed to convince his father to let Claus study at the Academy of Arts in Antwerp. At the age of 33, Claus moved to a cottage called "Zonneschijn" ("Sunshine") in East Flanders, which he lived in for the rest of his life. From his study he had a beautiful view over the river Leie (Lys). The light conditions of his home inspired him in many of his works.
Claus quickly achieved success as a painter and came into contact with other artists. His friends included Auguste Rodin, Émile Zola, and Maurice Maeterlinck, who later won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Claus often traveled around the world to organize exhibitions of his work. Tragedy, which temporarily interrupted his international success, finally came in the form of the First World War. Claus fled to London and found a house on the banks of the Thames. At the end of the war, he returned to Belgium.
The paintings of Emile Claus show a variety of motifs. In his early creative period, he mainly created realistic-looking portraits. Later he was influenced by the French Impressionists such as Claude Monet and slowly moved away from realism to his own personal version of Impressionism. This style, of which Claus is considered a pioneer, is today called Luminism. Significant paintings that date from the formative period of this Luminism are "The Beet Harvest" and "The Kingfishers". Since 2007, these two paintings are on the list of Flemish cultural heritage. "The Beet Harvest" is a painting of gigantic proportions, showing farmers hoeing sugar beets from a frozen field. Claus never sold the painting during his lifetime, and after his death his widow gave it into the possession of the town of Deinze - on the condition that a separate museum would be built to display it. Claus died in 1924 at the age of 64. His last words are said to have been, "Flowers, flowers, flowers ...". He was buried in his own garden.
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