The gallery is open every Saturday and Sunday, 2-6pm and by appointment

The gallery is open every Saturday and Sunday, 2-6pm and by appointment

Artists

In the 1850s, two Ghent artists moved to Paris to test their luck. The brothers César and Xavier De Cock tried to complete their academic training in the French capital and sought contact there with the local art milieu. Especially the artists of the so-called Barbizon School attracted their attention. These French landscape painters had left the seclusion of their atelier and moved into the forest of Fontainebleau to paint in free nature, in the open air. Following their French role models, the brothers immersed themselves in nature. First in Paris and afterwards at the Belgian exhibitions, they acquired a name and fame. In 1860, shortly after his Paris sojourn, Xavier De Cock settled in Deurle, today a part of Sint-Martens-Latem. Only decades later would his brother settle back in Belgium, opting for Ghent over the Leie region for his place of residence. Like Xavier, César De Cock principally painted the woody surroundings of Sint-Martens-Latem. Their fame laid the basis for the artistic development of the village.
From 1898-1899, an artists' colony of symbolists established itself in Sint-Martens-Latem on the Leie. The central figure of this colony was George Minne, who gathered Valerius De Saedeleer and the younger Gustave Van de Woestyne around him. The poet Karel Van de Woestyne supported them theoretically. Like all symbolists, these artists strongly opposed the carefree impressionism as well as the luminism and fauvism-with their bright areas of light and colour-that was practiced at that time in Belgium by Rik Wouters, Henri Evenepoel and Emile Claus. They escaped from the refinement of city culture and sought their salvation in the unspoilt countryside with its silence, rest and solitude. Included in the first group of the 'School of Latem' were George Minne, Valerius De Saedeleer, Gustave Van de Woestyne as well as his brother, the poet and critic Karel Van de Woestyne. They settled in Latem from 1895, encouraged by Albijn Van den Abeele, town clerk of Sint-Martens-Latem. As a sort of father figure, he received the artists who came principally from Ghent. After 1900, many artists came for a short or longer periods to the artists' village, which was the subject of increasing fame and had become a genuine artistic crossroads. Through the presence of other groups of artists (first the luminists, then the expressionists), Latem became a household word in the history of 20th century Belgian art.
The region of the Leie played a crucial role in the development of Belgian impressionism. When in 1881 Emile Claus settled in Astene, part of Deinze, he went in search of the untainted, uncomplicated peasant's life of his youth. At that time, nothing pointed to the flourishing impressionism would undergo in the land of the Leie from 1890 to 1914. The international success enjoyed by Claus at exhibitions in Belgium and abroad attracted young artists who wished to make a career in the same style. In the first place, the names of Anna De Weert and Jenny Montigny must be mentioned as Claus' most important students. Both women, coming from the well-to-do Ghent bourgeoisie, had a great career and helped lay the basis for the fame of luminism in the Leie region. Around 1900, the fame of Claus also exerted a strong attraction on a group of young Ghent artists. Gustave and Leon De Smet, Constant Permeke, Maurice Sys and Frits Van den Berghe would establish themselves in Sint-Martens-Latem around 1905, and remained faithful to the luminism of Claus until 1914.
Beginning in 1905, a second group of artists established themselves in Sint-Martens-Latem: Gust. De Smet, Albert Servaes, Constant Permeke and Frits Van den Berghe. In contrast to the first group of Latem artists who gave symbolist content to the luminism of the nearby residing Emile Claus, these artists dedicated themselves fully to the Flemish expression of impressionism. The founder of this luminism was their celebrated role model. Contact with the first group then also remained very superficial. They lacked for that matter the seriousness and the religious disposition of the first group. When Albert Servaes in his symbolist works of the years 1905-1906 used a dark pallet with vivid movement, without any concern for painting that is 'beautiful', he was paving the way for Flemish expressionism. Constant Permeke was strongly influenced by this, due to the dark colours, the raw manner of painting and the expressive forms. Initially an impressionist, Gust. De Smet on the other hand increasingly focused on the symbolism of the first group and, with Frits Van den Berghe, the pre-war works nevertheless suggested much more than a mere representation of reality. He was the only one who remained connected with the German expressionists and their city mentality. The others detested city life. At the outbreak of the First World War, Gust. De Smet and Frits Van den Berghe settled in the Netherlands, where they came into full contact with modern art, which strongly accelerated their breakthrough to expressionism. Frits Van den Berghe sought simplification and dark colours, which appeared to be synonymous with the expressive. Gust. De Smet, strongly influenced by the cubism of Picasso and Braque, preferred to develop the forms, but his cubism remained-in contrast to his foreign role models-mild and always recognisable. Constant Permeke, as war casualty, ended up in England. His style became more angular and his vivid gold colouring referred back to William Turner. After the war years, all returned from exile to Flanders, and Flemish expressionism reached its full bloom in the 1920s. Each went his own way, but seen globally, the Flemish expressionists remained more sensory and milder than their German contemporaries and kindred spirits, who carried with them the upheaval of the war. As was the case elsewhere, the major crisis of 1929 meant a disaster for the art market. The Second World War marked the definitive end for the second group of the 'School of Latem'.
In addition to the collection of the Latem School, Gallery Oscar De Vos also represents a number of important Belgian international artists, such as Paul Delvaux, James Ensor, Foujita, Theo Van Rysselberghe and Rik Wouters. These artists have had an unmistakable influence on the Latem artists.