Clesse Louis
Brussels 1889 – 1961
Belgian Painter
Signature: Signed bottom right, verso signed and titled "Barques de port à Nieuwpoort"
Dimensions: Image size 55 x 65 cm, frame size 73 x 83 cm
Medium: Oil on panel
Biography: Clesse Louis studied at the Academy in Brussels, worked in the decoration-studio of P. Hermanus. From A. Bastien and E. Clause he received advice and encouragement.
Painter made his debut at the Brussels Triennial Salon in 1907. Primarily he painted in the Sonian Forest, the Zenne Valley and in West -Flanders, along the canals. He worked in the summer in Oudergem and from 1932 regularly stayed in Oudenburg in his studio, from where he explored and painted the coast, the harbour, the countryside, the villages and Bruges. In 1959 he acquired the honorary citizenship of Oudenburg.
He was member of the Cercle Artistique et Littéraire (Cercle Gaulois), also member of the acquisition committee of the Museum of Brussels. He has a victory column in the gardens of Ter Kameren. He was a founding member of the “Association of Belgian Professional Artists”.
He died on February 9, 1961 in his hometown Elsene. Today, his work can be found in private and public collections including in the collections of the Museums of Antwerp, Brussels, Elsene, Schaerbeek, Ostend, Charleroi (Belgium), Reims (France), Algiers (Algeria), Cairo (Egypt), Kaunas (Lithuania), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), San Francisco (California) and Tokyo (Japan).
Literature:
Paul Piron, De Belgische Beeldende Kunstenaars uit de 19de en 20ste eeuw, Art in Belgium, p. 215,
Wim & Greet Pas, Biografisch Lexicon Plastische Kunst in België, Arto 2000, p. 141.