Summer morning

Leon De Smet (1881-1966) is among the most lyrical and technically sophisticated representatives of Flemish post-impressionism. In this superb 1912 painting, entitled Summer Morning, he shows himself at the height of his powers, just before the First World War would abruptly interrupt his Latem period. The work exemplifies the brief but crucial phase from around 1907 to 1914 in which De Smet created his most balanced and luminous paintings.

The canvas is bathed in an atmosphere of soft lightness: a summer meadow, shaded by a rising sun, is built up from vibrant touches in a delicate colour palette. The brightness of yellow, lilac, blue and pink combine to form a quasi-foggy veil that lends the motif a dreamy glow. In the shadow of a tree, a few figures are visible, small and subservient to nature, a theme that closely echoes the ideas of symbolism. Yet above all, the painting is a celebration of light, the “chiaroscuro” of dawn, placing De Smet in the tradition of artists such as Emile Claus and the Luminists.
But where Claus recorded reality in an impressionistic way, De Smet goes further in the direction of stylisation and abstraction. His treatment of paint in Summer Morning recalls divisionism, echoing the international search for light and colour around 1910. In France, Paul Signac and Henri Le Sidaner were experimenting with similar atmospheric techniques; in Austria, Gustav Klimt was engaged in his golden phase in which landscapes were supported by patterns and symbolism. The early works of Ferdinand Hodler or the soft reflections of Vilhelm Hammershøi can also be mentioned in this context.

Summer morning is thus not only a highlight of Leon De Smet's oeuvre, but also a witness to his positioning within the broader European avant-garde of his time. He managed to link the pictorial tradition of his native region - the Leie region and Latem - with a cosmopolitan artistic discourse. This makes the painting one of the most balanced syntheses of Flemish light and international pictorial sophistication. A rare and harmonious masterpiece.