The Potato Harvest

Emile WAUTERS (Bruxelles 1846 – 1933 Paris)

Emile WAUTERS
Bruxelles 1846 – 1933 Paris

Belgian School

The Potato Harvest

Pastel on paper
Size unframed: 21,9 x 16,5 Inc ( 55,5 x 42 cm)
Size framed: 28,9 x 23,4 Inc ( 73,5 x 59,5 cm)
Signed and dedicated for someone lower right
circa 1886

Condition:
The work is in good condition for the age. The paper is glued on canvas. The pastel was he object of a revision by a trestorer of paper.

Provenance: Private collection, Belgium.

Literature:
There are 2 preparatory drawings which are a part of collections of the Royal Fine Arts Museum of Brussels.

Biography:

Charles Émile Wauters, was born on November 19th, 1846 in Brussels and died on December 11th, 1933 in Paris. He was a painter and a well-known Belgian pastellist with a preference for the painting of history, the portraits and the landscapes.
He was the pupil of Jean-François Portaels in Brussels and Jean-Léon Gérôme in Paris.
He travelled a lot (Italy, Morocco, Egypt, Spain), so that he immortalized the inauguration of the Suez Canal and participated at international exhibitions.
He was member of the royal Academy of the sciences, the letters and the fine arts of Belgium, member of the royal Academy of London, honorary member of the academies of Vienna, Berlin and Munich, and corresponding member of the institute of France and Madrid.
He bequeathed studies, drawings and some portraits to the municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode who was creating the Charlier museum.

Museums:

Works acquired by the Royal Family, the Belgian State (Senate, Chamber of Deputies), by The Louvre Muséum (Paris) , The Orsay Muséum (Paris), The Belgian Royal Museum of fine arts (Brussels), The Royal Museum of Art and History of Brussels, The Royal Museum of fine arts (Antwerp), The Modern art and contemporary Museum of Liège, The Charlier Museum of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, The Kunsthaus of Zurich (Modern Art Museum), by the church of Langdorp (Aarschot), Kerk Sint-Pieter.

Honorary distinctions:

Few artists received so many distinctions and notable gratitudes(recognitions). He obtained the grand medal of the Salon of Paris, for his ""Hugo van der Goes"", created while he was 24 years old. He has been awarded of six medals of honor in Paris between 1878 and 1889, as well as in Munich, Antwerp, Vienna and Berlin.
He received the order of the Merit of the Prussia, he was Commander of the order of Léopold, and of Saint Michel de Bavière and Officer of the Legion of Honor.
A street bears its name in Brussels.