Page 51 - Orient Collection

19. The Rest of the TAMBOURIN

Artist: Emile CLAUS, Belgian, (1849 - 1924)
Execution date (approximate): 1879
Téchnique: Oil on Canvas. (signed higher right and dated)
Measures: 48.5 x 36 cm.
Description: The Musician (Gnaoui Tambourine) resting on the outdoors of a tavern in the
city of Tlemçen- Algeria. A frequent scene wich is very appreciated. Signed with inscription
“Tlemçen”79, (Algeria)

Biography
Emile Claus was born on 27 September 1849, in Sint-Eloois-Vijve, a village in West-Flanders
(Belgium), at the banks of the river Lys. He graduated from the Academy with a gold
medal. Although Claus’ father allowed him to take drawing classes, he did not fancy an
artist’s career for his son. Instead, he sent Emile to apprentice as a baker in Lille (France).
Emile learned French there but the job of a baker clearly did not appeal to him.
He was a painter of portraits, landscapes, pastel, impressionists but very rarely Orientalist.
He traveled to Spain and Morocco, and spent some time in Algeria, where the two Collection
paintings were inspired. He went on to Paris London and Antwerp. Claus became a member
of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Belgium.
The Collection’s paintings are an extraordinary examples of his great talent and a unique
and rare testimony of his Orientalist period. His paintings are found in Museums of Brussels,
Antwerp, Dresden (Germany), Paris (Musée du Luxembourg), Rome, and Venice.

50 51