Beschreibung:

Oil on canvas - Sig. - 59,5 x 50 cm
Remarks "Upon his return from England (1920) Gustave Van de Woestyne changes his palet and his technique. His style becomes more loose and spontaneous. He opts for a more nervous and more direct expressionism and adapts his style to the theme in order to emphasize the innocent, a youngster with stretched neck and big almond shaped eyes. This specific aspect characterizes his figures. The youngster, with sharp nose, inquiring mouth looks up in an innocent way. The face is shaped into a smile. Did the artist sense his youngest son David's mood (°Wales 1915) ? The figure is clearly the expression of his father's sensitive empathy. Hippolyte Daeye's attention must have been drawn to this. The fellow townsman from Ghent was part of the intimate family circle. Gustave's oldest son Maxime remembered his father giving the work as a present to Hippolyte Daeye " (Mevr. Huguette Van de Woestyne-Vanagt) Exhibition "Gustave Van de Woestyne" Gal. Le Centaure, Brussels 1925, cat. nr. 32 "Kunst van heden" Feestzaal Meir, Antwerp 1927, cat. nr. 9 "Gustave Van de Woestyne" PvSK, Brussels 1929, cat. nr. 85 "Retrospectieve Gustave Van de Woestyne" Van Abbe-museum, Eindhoven; MSK, Ghent 1949, nr. 28 "Gustave Van de Woestyne" Hasselt & Deinze 1949-50, nr. 26 "Gustave Van de Woestyne" CC Burgemeester Antoon Spinoy, Mechelen 1967, cat. nr. 92 With thanks to Mrs. Huguette Van de Woestyne-Vanagt for providing the information about this work. Provenance coll. Hippolyte Daeye Antwerp Gal. Georges Giroux, auction 28th of March 1953, cat. nr. 89