Emile Claus (1849–1924)

Emile Claus was a Belgian painter. From 1869 to 1874, Claus trained at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts with, amongst others, the landscape painter Jacob Jacobs. During his training, Claus attracted the attention of and found favour with the local upper middle class. 

Artistically and financially, Claus soon prospered. The Antwerp Museum of Fine Arts purchased one of his works, and “The Picknick”(1887), his well-known painting showing a farmer’s family watching the Sunday outing of the urban bourgeoisie on the opposite bank of a small river (the Lys), was bought by the Belgian Royal Family. 

Under the influence of Claude Monet, he developed a style that has been characterized as luminism. In 1904, he started the artist group “Vie et Lumière” (‘Life and Light’).