Alois De Laet - De Zaaier - Sold

Large, impressionistic oil on panel painting of a sower in the late afternoon sun, probably inspired by Millet's and van Gogh's paintings of a sower. Alois De Laet was a self-taught painter and exhibited in 1900 in the Cornelis Landschotkapel where he met many artists such as Eugeen Van Mieghem, Henry Van de Velde and Stijn Streuvels. De Laet called himself one of the first Antwerp socialist artists. He painted portraits, genre scenes and landscapes with a melancholy atmosphere. At the outbreak of the First World War, he fled to Wimbledon in England, where he came into contact with Emile Claus, who praised him for his use of colour.
After the 1st World War he was very successful with his landscapes of the Kalmhoutse Heide and the Antwerp polders. Under the influence of Luminism, his color palette became brighter over the years, as in this painting of a sower. In Antwerp he had his own painting school for some time. His work can be found, among others, in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. The work is in fine condition and encased in the original wooden frame that shows some minor damage.