Forum Eerste Wereldoorlog

[Tandorini]

André Leynen (1888-1984):



Zelfportret.

André Leynen was a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and had an artist's studio in Nieuport since 1908 where he became proficient in producing land- and seascapes. In 1914 as member of the Belgian 'Garde Civique' he fought at the Siege of Antwerp. He later escaped via the neutral Netherlands and volunteered for the Belgian army in Great Britain. He was a despatcher at first and later transferred to an artillery unit. In 1916 he was seconded to the 'Section Artistique' and exposed his work at an Exposition of Belgian War Art in Switzerland. Afterwards in 1917 he was once again transferred back to an artillery combat unit.

Several of André Leynen's watercolors were used as headings for writing-paper sold as benefit for the 'Asiles des Soldats Invalides Belges'. 5 of these works are in the following gallery of illustrations.












_________________
"Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae"
"Van hen(de Galliërs) allemaal zijn de Belgen de dappersten"
Julius Caesar(100 VC - 44 VC)
2013:Canadian Citizen’s Memorial Campaign in Sicily.
http://www.operationhusky2013.ca/
http://tandorini.wordpress.com/

[Tandorini]

James Thiriar (1889-1965):


James Thiriar was a Belgian artist from Brussels. He fought as member of the 'Garde Civique' (cival guard) and was wounded during the early days of the war. He later escaped to London and joined the regular Belgian army. The Illustrated London News and other periodicals published his drawings. A series of his watercolors depicting life on the Yser and behind the front lines was used as heading for writing paper that was sold to raise money for wounded Belgian soldiers and convalescent homes. Like most Belgian war-time artists, he was not particularly interested in depicting military scenes involving battle or combat. Instead he preferred to illustrate the everyday life of soldiers behind the front lines and like many artists at the time, he was fascinated by the enormous destruction caused by the war and by scenes of ruins and embattled landscapes and destroyed villages. Then again he was a very proficient illustrator of military uniforms and of 'types' of soldiers, as can be seen in many of his line drawings.

During his wartime service, he was at first attached to the army topographical services where he made detailed maps and drawings of the front lines. In 1916 he was transferred to the 'Section Artistique' of the Belgian army where he organised several expositions of war art in De Panne Belgium and in London. He also produced illustrations for a Belgian soldier's magazine called 'De Ijzer' (Flemish name for the river Yser). In 1917, he illustrated a book called 'Les Vainqueurs de l'Yser'. After the war he published his own book of memoires and illustrations entitled 'Gloire et Misere au Front de Flandres 1914 - 1918' as well as illustrating other books such as 'Robert Vivier et James Thiriar Raconte la Guerre'.




An early war drawing by James Thiriar depicting the retreat of the Belgian Army from Liege in August 1914.



Another drawing published by the 'Illustrated London News' :Sortie of Belgian troops from the Antwerp Entenched Camp in during September 1914



Cover page of a booklet of writing paper sold to raise funds for wounded Belgian soldiers.















































(wordt vervolgd)
_________________
"Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae"
"Van hen(de Galliërs) allemaal zijn de Belgen de dappersten"
Julius Caesar(100 VC - 44 VC)
2013:Canadian Citizen’s Memorial Campaign in Sicily.
http://www.operationhusky2013.ca/
http://tandorini.wordpress.com/

[Tandorini]

Vervolg:James Thiriar



































(Wordt vervolgd.)
_________________
"Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae"
"Van hen(de Galliërs) allemaal zijn de Belgen de dappersten"
Julius Caesar(100 VC - 44 VC)
2013:Canadian Citizen’s Memorial Campaign in Sicily.
http://www.operationhusky2013.ca/
http://tandorini.wordpress.com/

[Tandorini]

Vervolg:James Thiriar:





























(wordt vervolgd)
_________________
"Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae"
"Van hen(de Galliërs) allemaal zijn de Belgen de dappersten"
Julius Caesar(100 VC - 44 VC)
2013:Canadian Citizen’s Memorial Campaign in Sicily.
http://www.operationhusky2013.ca/
http://tandorini.wordpress.com/

[Tandorini]

Vervolg James Thiriar:
























_________________
"Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae"
"Van hen(de Galliërs) allemaal zijn de Belgen de dappersten"
Julius Caesar(100 VC - 44 VC)
2013:Canadian Citizen’s Memorial Campaign in Sicily.
http://www.operationhusky2013.ca/
http://tandorini.wordpress.com/

[petit belge]

Gewoonweg schitterend! Ik wist dat Thiriar een boel tekeningen heeft gemaakt van Belgische legeruniformen (dragen niet mijn voorkeur) en dat deze nog steeds te koop zijn in de musuemshop van het Legermuseum te Brussel, maar ik kende zijn andere werk niet, dat trouwens stukken beter is dan die uniformpostkaarten.
Prachtige verzameling heb je daar. Meer van dat aub.

We zouden hier bijna een forumgallerij kunnen oprichten.
_________________
Aaaah! Les vaillants petits belges.

[Tandorini]

[Tandorini]

Alfred Bastien (1873-1955):

Alfred Bastien was a well-known and successful Belgian artist prior to the Great War. He helped complete the succesful 'Panorama du Congo', exhibited at the 1913 Ghent World Fair which was a prequel of sorts to his grand post-war 'Panorama de l'Yser', undoubtedly his most famous and acclaimed work, if not the most artistically accomplished.
After serving in the 'Garde Civique' like many other Belgians Bastien fled to Great Britain after the fall of Antwerp in October 1914 and despite his age (43) volunteered for the Belgian Army. He was eventually transferred to the 'Section Artistique' in Nieuwpoort along with many of his pre-war artist friends and acquaintances. From 1915 onwards, he made many drawings and sketches of the situation on and behind the Belgian lines on the Yser river. The British war-time magazine 'the Illustrated War News', among others, regularly published his work, quite often in distinctive and semi-panoramic, multi-color two-page spreads, of which several are shown above. In 1917, on personal request by Lord Beaverbrook who owned several of Bastien's pre-war paintings, he was seconded to the Canadian Army until September 1918, during which time he produced many works of art specifically related to the Canadian war experience.

After the war, Alfred Bastien painted a grand Panorama of the Yser Front in 19th century tradition, a project which he had been planning since 1914 and which, according to his own telling, had been suggested to him by King Albert in 1914. During his war-time service in the Belgian Army Bastien made many sketches, drawings and photos which were later either incorporated into the Panorama itself or were useful studies in technique and effects. Several of such drawings are shown above. The 'Panorama de l'Yser' painting itself measured 115 meters in length and 14 meters in height and was initially exhibited in Brussels. In the mid 1920s, a permanent building was constructed in Ostend to house the Panorama along with a multitude of props and decor. The intention of moving the Panorama to Ostend was to capture a share of British 'war-tourism', since most British coming to visit relatives' war graves arrived by steamer in Ostend before proceeding to the area of the Ypres Salient. The Panorama opened at Ostend in 1926.

Financially the Panorama was great success, both for Bastien who received a tremendous fee for the painting, for the consortium of businessmen and banks which provided funds and capital and for the city of Ostend which provided real estate and a newly constructed building to house the Panorama. The initial investment was repaid many times over, from entrance fees and from (by modern standards) modest merchandising of postcards and prints. To give a relative idea of the finances involved, the actual cost of the painting materials (oil paint, linnen, brushes etc.) was estimated at around 40 000 BF, the cost to construct the new building at Ostend was 550 000 BF and Bastien's fee itself was set at 350 000 BF. Entrance fees for customers was 3 BF. While on exhibition in Brussels until 1925 it is estimated that more than 800 000 customers visited the Panorama, amongst them many of the crowned heads of Europe, presidents and foreign emperors alike, all to great acclaim by the newsmedia.

Of course in completing a work of such dimensions it is obvious that Bastien could not do all the painting himself. Several of his war-time friends and fellow artists from the 'Section Artistique' participated in this grand project. The intial sketching in of the broad outline in charcoal of the Panorama took about a week's time to complete, while the actual painting and varnishing took one year's time. The Panorama was set up in a circle, with paying spectators having a viewing place in the center. Careful attention was given to the lighting effects and the placement of objects in the forground, in order to create a more believable optical illusion. Many postcards and quality prints in all sizes and colors were made of this early 20th century artistic extravaganza. The scans in this section are from a series of large sized color postcards.

Aside from his most famous 'Panorama de l'Yser', exhibited in Brussels, Bastien also created a smaller sized 'Panorama de la Bataille de la Meuse' in 1937 which showed an amalgam of scenes from the fighting in Namur and the Citadel of Dinant during August 1914. Part of this panorama which depicted the massacre of Belgian civilians in Dinant in August 1914, was deliberately destroyed by German authorities during the 1940-44 occupation.

The 'Panorama de l'Yser' was heavily damaged in 1940 during a bombing raid by British aircraft. The museum was closed during the war years and the painting was exposed to all manner of adverse weather conditions. In 1951 the work was moved into the Royal Army Museum in Brussels where a preliminary restoration was undertaken. Afterwards it was exhibited in the Army Museum until 1980. Subsequently the painting has remained in storage, awaiting further restoration and a definitive destination. It is hoped that a careful restoration and a permenant place of exhibition for the sole remaining Great War Panorama will be a fitting part of centennial celebrations in 2014.

While the intent was to provide spectators with a sense of 'being there' on the Yser Front in person, the depiction of the landscape while extremely realistic in terms of style and detail, was not an actual view that could have been seen at any time during the war. The Panaorama not only depicted various battles and incidents from the Yser Front in Belgium in 1914 and 1915, but the central viewpoint from which spectators viewed the battlefield was also an imaginary place. For nowhere in all of Belgium could all the landscapes and towns and villages and rivers have been seen in real life. Just as cyber artists nowadays create 'virtual realities' that appear to be highly realistic, back in 1920 Belgian artist Alfred Bastien created a virtual reality scene in which he tried to portray all the drama and heroism of the Yser Front in Belgium.

Limited by early 20th century technology, Bastien's only tool was the paintbrush and his imagination, but the resulting work is nonetheless impressive.







Before the main work : 3 panoramic views of the Yser battlefield published in a 1915 British war news weekly



a British Magazine Cover with a Drawing by Bastien





downscaled montage in 2 parts of the panorama

Panorama of the Battle of the Yser

part 1



part 2



part 3



part 4



part 5



part 6



part 7



part 8





Cover drawing of a booklet of postcards containing the 'Panorama of the Yser' in 8 parts





Postcards of details of the Panorama
_________________
"Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae"
"Van hen(de Galliërs) allemaal zijn de Belgen de dappersten"
Julius Caesar(100 VC - 44 VC)
2013:Canadian Citizen’s Memorial Campaign in Sicily.
http://www.operationhusky2013.ca/
http://tandorini.wordpress.com/

[Tandorini]

Vervolg:Alfred Bastien:








_________________
"Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae"
"Van hen(de Galliërs) allemaal zijn de Belgen de dappersten"
Julius Caesar(100 VC - 44 VC)
2013:Canadian Citizen’s Memorial Campaign in Sicily.
http://www.operationhusky2013.ca/
http://tandorini.wordpress.com/

[Tandorini]

Alfred Bastien:


















_________________
"Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae"
"Van hen(de Galliërs) allemaal zijn de Belgen de dappersten"
Julius Caesar(100 VC - 44 VC)
2013:Canadian Citizen’s Memorial Campaign in Sicily.
http://www.operationhusky2013.ca/
http://tandorini.wordpress.com/

[Patrick Mestdag]

schopje
_________________
Verdun ….papperlapapp! Louis Fernand Celine
Ein Schlachten war’s, nicht eine Schlacht zu nennen“ Ernst Junger .
Oublier c'est trahir ! marechal Foch

[Yvonne]

Goede schop, schitterend werk.
_________________
Met hart en ziel

[Tandorini]

Heb nog ne keer gezocht en deze vond ik nog: Henry de Groux



Henry de Groux (1867-1930, born St-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium; died Marseille, France), La Comète de la Guerre (The Comet of War), 1914-1916, working proof for the portfolio Le Visage de la Victoire (The Face of Victory), 1914-15, etchings, graphite, ink wash, Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, Museum purchase: Helen Foresman Spencer Art Acquisition Fund, 2005.0110.



Le Guetteur (The Sentry), 1914, working proof for the portfolio Le Visage de la Victoire (The Face of Victory), 1914-15, etchings, graphite, ink wash, Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, Museum purchase: Helen Foresman Spencer Art Acquisition Fund, 2005.0127.

http://www.spencerart.ku.edu/exhibitions/machine-in-a-void.shtml
http://www.spencerart.ku.edu/
_________________
"Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae"
"Van hen(de Galliërs) allemaal zijn de Belgen de dappersten"
Julius Caesar(100 VC - 44 VC)
2013:Canadian Citizen’s Memorial Campaign in Sicily.
http://www.operationhusky2013.ca/
http://tandorini.wordpress.com/

[Percy Toplis]

Mooi topic, T. Bedankt!
_________________
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.