Eugène Laermans (1864-1940) Fieldwork 1908 Oil On Canvas 98 Cm X 68 Cm

Artist: Eugène LAERMANS (1864-1940) Country: Belgium Date: July 18, 1906 Subject: Field work with haystacks Style: Expressionism Annotation: The haystacks are sketched with label references, probably because the work was exhibited at the time or presented as a preliminary design for a monumental work for a public building, but which may not have been completed or was destroyed during the First World War... Signature: Signed lower right and dated Condition: As found but impeccable Frame: Original frame Canvas: Original canvas Dimensions: Without frame 98 cm x 68 cm * Visible at 'Sablon Antiques Center' 39, Place du Grand Sablon ' 1000 Brussels Short Biography: Eugene Laermans, through his tragic life, was considered a solitary figure concerned with the plight of the humble. He is one of the most prominent figures in Belgian art of his time. He sought to integrate the social aspect into art. Along with Constantin Meunier, he is among the forerunners of Flemish Expressionism.[1] The artist drew his subjects from the working-class and peasant world, which he depicted with a sense that was often pathetic and pessimistic. He was the champion of the lives of the humble. From the beginning of his artistic career, he used workers and peasants he encountered outside his home in Molenbeek, which at the time was a working-class suburb of Brussels, as models in his work. One of his defining characteristics is the distortion of his figures, the exaggeration of features which, throughout his works, gradually tended towards greater simplification.