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Dimensions: 98 by 142 cm., 38 1/2 by 55 7/8 in.
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Provenance: PROPERTY OF A BELGIAN PRIVATE COLLECTOR
Purchased from the artist by the family of the present owner; thence by descent
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Exhibited: Brussels, Galerie Georges Giroux, Emile Claus, probably 1921
Waregem, Kultuurcentrum De Schakel, Retrospectieve Emile Claus, 1985, no. 43, illustrated in the catalogue (entitled Winterzon - namiddag)
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Notes: Painted in 1902.
The present work was painted from the grounds of Zonneschijn (Sunshine), the artist's house at Astene, on the banks of the river de Liei (la Lys), the setting of many of Claus's most important works. The bold brushwork and luminous palette in this large composition, executed shortly after Claus had abandoned academic naturalism in favour of plein airisme, reveal the early influences of Claude Monet and Henri Le Sidaner.
Claus settled at Zonneschijn in 1883 after breaking away from the repressive training of the Antwerp Academy where he had studied between 1869 and 1874. Five years later, Claus took a studio in Paris and began to exhibit at the Salon. It was only after 1890, following many winters spent in Paris, and with the encouragement of Le Sidaner, that Claus liberated himself from the tighter technique of the Naturalist painters such as Bastien-Lepage and began to experiment with an impressionistic brushstroke and to explore new means of capturing light. His house beside the river de Liei became a haven for artists and writers, such as Emile Verhaeren who wrote of Claus just a year before the present work was painted: 'His art is sure, clear and ceaselessly in search of air, light and life. It commands respect in this country as the art of a Master' (World Impressionism: The International Movement, New York, 1990, p. 261).
The treatment of light in Soleil d'hiver, après midi reveals Claus's impressionistic sensitivity to perceive and render, the nuances of the winter afternoon sun filtering through the branches; the central tree catching the full rays is lit up with broad strokes of yellow, orange and green paint, while the shadowy patterns cast by the gate in the foreground gently follow the contours of the trunk and ground. Claus's skillful use of colour led the artist to be dubbed a 'luminist' by art critics who attempted to differentiate the Belgian Impressionists from their French counterparts.
The JB with which the painting is inscribed on the reverse records the date the work was painted in the artist's code. Claus's unique dating system substituted numbers with the corresponding sequential letters of the alphabet. According to Mr. Jan D'Haese, Claus began using this dating system in the later part of his career.
