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Artist or Maker: Gustave van de Woestyne (BELGIAN, 1881-1947)
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Provenance: M.M. Speth, Belgium.
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Exhibited: Antwerp, Kunst van Heden, George Minne en Gustave van de Woestyne , 21 May-26 June 1927.
Mechelen, Cultureel Centrum Burgemeester Antoon Spinoy, Gustave van de Woestyne , 3 September-22 November 1967.
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Although a contemporary of the second expressionist generation of Sint Martens-Latem, Gustave van de Woestijne is art historically situated among the representatives of the first symbolist generation. His art is the product of an individual imagination, but shows traces of an intense dialogue with precursors and contemporaries.
The spiritualising tendency of the symbolists George Minne and Valerius de Saedeleer influenced his work deeply but the intensity of his psychological portraits announces expressionism.
Van de Woestijne's oeuvre covers a broad thematic range of subjects. His brother Karel divides his work into three groups: peasant life, religious scenes and portraits.
The group of portraits must be divided into two periods: a first decade between 1909 and 1919 where symbolism and expressionism are influencing each other and a second period beginning around 1920 towards the end, where he achieved a penetrating realism related to Neue Sachlichkeit .
Although the present lot is not dated, it possibly belongs to the first group of works realised in Latem, Leuven and Tiegem. More precisely this work has been painted in Tiegem, where he was living close to Valerius de Saedeleer. During that period he found inspiration for his work in daily life but the intentions were mostly moral and religious.
The paintings of Pieter Brueghel have been of great inspiration for Van de Woestyne. Fine drawn portraits of farmers with the hardlife on their wrinkled faces: their expression at times even approached caricature.
'Les Cavaliers', together with paintings such as 'Amazon' (Joost de Geest, Gustave van de Woestyne , Ghent 1997, no. 17) and 'Paysage fantastique' (De Geest, no. 50) belongs to a small group of paintings in which Van de Woestyne depicted a more elegant life. The horses are like sculptures in a winter landscape and the elegant dressed women seem to be from another mystical world. If these fantasy landscapes with horseriders have an allegorical meaning, as many works by Van de Woestyne, is not clear.
One can approach the art of Gustave van de Woestyne only through his secretive nature, through an introvert personality which forms the ground of his art. Through his personal experience of life he is giving, in a certain sense, a divine image of humanity.
The authenticity of this lot has been confirmed by Maxime van de Woestyne in a letter dated 1993.
