Willy Schlobach

Private Collection, France

The canvas is not lined. There are no signs of retouching visible under UV light. There is some unobtrusive paint shrinkage, mainly to the upper two corners and the upper extreme edge. There is a tiny 1cm long paint loss to the extreme right edge. There is a layer of surface dirt and a discoloured varnish. This work would benefit from a clean. Otherwise, this work is in overall good original condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue, but slightly less saturated in the original.
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Trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, the young Willy Schlobach was an active member of the avant-garde group Les XX, which he joined shortly after its foundation in October 1883. Through his involvment with the group, he met artists including James Ensor, Jan Toorop and Théo van Rysselberghe, exhibiting with them at the group salons mounted by L'Essor. These salons provided the ideal platform for the new Belgian art, in which Schlobach and his fellow friends expressed their dissatisfaction with the traditional Parisian art scene. 

Expressed through the technique of pointillism is Schlobach's constant preoccupation with light and colour. The brilliant coastal scene is portrayed through warm and acid tones, creating an ever-changing dynamism and fluctuation throughout the composition. Paul Signac, Seurat's principal French follower, considered Schlobach to be the Belgian artist who most successfully espoused the spirit of Neo-Impressionism. Evident in the present work is Schlobach's masterful handling of the paint, of the effects of light, and of the Neo-Impressionist style: 'a technique as a justification for achieving greater brilliancy of effect by a daring juxtaposition of complementary colours'. (Mary Anne Stevens & Robert Hoozee (ed.) Impressionism to Symbolism, The Belgian Avant-Garde 1880-1900 (exhibition catalogue), Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1994, p. 36).