My Studio in June

In 1893, Anna De Weert became a pupil of Emile Claus, the leader of the movement devoted to Luminism: the Belgian answer to French Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism. In 1895 she acquired a farm in Afsnee that had belonged to a Dominican monastery. Situated on the banks of the River Lys, she built a studio next to the house. When Emile…

In 1893, Anna De Weert became a pupil of Emile Claus, the leader of the movement devoted to Luminism: the Belgian answer to French Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism. In 1895 she acquired a farm in Afsnee that had belonged to a Dominican monastery. Situated on the banks of the River Lys, she built a studio next to the house. When Emile Claus founded the artists group Vie et lumière in 1904, he was undoubtedly inspired by the motto ‘light, love, life’, which De Weert had introduced into her studio. The group united artists for whom the rendering of light was essential. These also included his most talented female pupils: Jenny Montigny, Yvonne Serruys and Anna De Weert. My Studio in June shows the large flowery garden that surrounded De Weert’s studio. The fresh, bright colours, applied in smudges and dashes, evoke the peaceful morning of a sunny summer day.