A powerful study of masculine strength and concentration, rendered with sculptural, modernist force.
Four powerful, rustic figures are frozen in a moment of intense focus; one archer draws his longbow, his body coiled with tension, while his companions gaze upwards in shared anticipation. The artist builds the monumental forms with a dense, granular application of charcoal or crayon, creating a sculptural effect through heavily worked shadows and stippled textures. This is a masterful work of social realism; it elevates a simple pastime into a scene of epic, almost heroic, gravity, celebrating the dignity and physical power of the common man.
Medium: Print
Inscriptions: None visible. Maurice Langaskens was a Belgian Impressionist & Modern artist who was born in 1884.
Maurice Langaskens was a Belgian artist who was born in Ghent in 1884 and who died in Schaarbeek in 1946. He was a painter, draftsman, watercolorist, graphic artist and illustrator. Began his education at the Academy and at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, where he spent some time with his parents (or with his future stepfather, the glass artist Jean Rotiers). Further training at the Academy in Brussels under C. Montald (1901-1905). Was a member of Pour l'Art from 1907 and his first works still showed influences from his teacher Montald, but also from Puvis de Chavannes and the Pre-Raphaelites. His decorative compositions with idealized figures were bathed in a poetic atmosphere. Spent World War I in the German camps at Göttingen and Münsterlager. Marked by the war, numerous camp drawings and war scenes were created. Approx. 1920 he regained his original dynamism. He created numerous decorative compositions and works that idealized work. From the press: “The art of M.L., sometimes fascinated by intimate scenes, sometimes by still lifes or by his vision of the industrial world, testifies to a powerful talent for drawing and subtle coloristic properties. He was a witness to his time.' He also gained fame as an etcher and regularly took part in the exhibitions of the Group La gravure originale en Belgique between 1924 and 1937. In 1925 he published a series of eighteen engravings with Tijl Uilenspiegel as subject. Also illustrated various literary works. Work in the Museum in Ixelles, among others. Mentioned in CRICK, BAS I and Two centuries of signatures of Belgian artists.
Condition: Framed under glass in a simple aluminium frame. The paper is heavily creased throughout, with some minor tears to the margins, giving the work a fragile, artifact-like quality.
Height 55cm / 21.5”
Width 40cm / 16”
