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Producer
Léon Louis Auguste Edouard Dardenne (°1865 - †1912)
Theme
village sceneries, family/family life, hut
Legend
The impressive sunsets of eastern Africa inspired Léon Dardenne but their fleetingness was a handicap for him. He expressed this in January 1899 in the quotation below. Note the strange figure on this canvas to the right of the seated group: he sports a beard and has white skin but appears to be wearing a woman's corset. "I am preparing a new canvas to paint. Of course at 4 o'clock there is a storm, rain and a tornado. I paint the flowers and towards evening behind my camp there is one of the most impressive effects of the sunset that one could imagine. I would give a lot to have a rapid sketch. The sky is a pale green, an exquisite colour, a group of clouds coloured pink by the sun, the faded pink of old material, with mauve streaks, extremely light like traces of mud, and below one can make out Chilomba and a few very decorative trees (...). Unfortunately, this only lasts a short time like the sunsets here. You hardly see it and then it drains of all colour becoming grey and suddenly, it is night." (Family archives of the artist, notebook 2, 4-1-1899, p.11(a), a copy of which is kept at the RMCA).
Inscription
Soir, au camp des soldats, à Ka-Beça Nr 12 Dardenne Léon
Date of acquisition
1911
Dimensions
19 cm x 36 cm
Technique
graphic arts > painting > oil colour
Inventory number
HO.0.1.82
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