Portrait of the Artist Anna De Weert

Anna De Weert was a private pupil of Emile Claus. In the painting she is sitting in a rowing boat on the River Lys holding a pencil and sketchbook. Apart from the portrait, the river also plays an important part in the painting. There are no recognisable features in the landscape however, which makes it difficult to pinpoint the exact…

Anna De Weert was a private pupil of Emile Claus. In the painting she is sitting in a rowing boat on the River Lys holding a pencil and sketchbook. Apart from the portrait, the river also plays an important part in the painting. There are no recognisable features in the landscape however, which makes it difficult to pinpoint the exact location where it was painted. The painting was probably done in the vicinity of Villa Rayon de soleil, Claus’ house on the banks of the River Lys in Astene near Deinze. On the other hand he might have painted it in the vicinity of hof ter Neuve in Afsnee, which lay downstream in the direction of Ghent. From the mid-1890s onwards De Weert spent the summer months in this studio together with her husband Maurice De Weert, a liberal politician from Ghent.