Working outside like this is a real pleasure
At the end of April 1912, Rik Wouters (1882–1916) travelled with his wife Nel to Paris for several weeks. Thanks to the proceeds from the sale of several works at Galerie Giroux in Brussels, they finally had the money to do so. In the City of Light, they met their good friend Simon Lévy (1886–1973). For Wouters, this painter from Alsace was his “brother in art.” The two shared an intense correspondence in French, later translated and published by Nel. They exchanged impressions and reflections on old and especially contemporary art. This exchange of ideas was decisive for Wouters' artistic evolution. He would later paint Lévy’s portrait in 1913 and had already sculpted a bust of him earlier.
In the Durand-Ruel gallery and the Pellerin collection in Neuilly, Wouters saw works by French Impressionists and, for the first time in colour, paintings by Cézanne. Until then, he had only known Cézanne's work through black-and-white reproductions. These were the painters he admired and whose work his own was closely related to. After the trip, Wouters fully embraced painting outdoors. The forest became his studio. He would return from his walks with a watercolour, a drawing, an oil study, or a completed painting. In a letter to Lévy dated 18 August 1912, he wrote: “I’ve been painting a lot lately, large studies, even outdoors. Working outside like this is a real pleasure. It’s a big difference from working indoors…”
Wouters never concerned himself with titling his works. He left that to Georges Giroux and Jules Elslander, the owner and director respectively of the gallery that promoted his art. Later, Nel filled in inaccurate or missing titles. When Rik painted several versions of the same theme, he identified them with letters. The Old Walnut Tree version A, Mechelen, is in a private collection. On a postcard to Lévy dated 1 October 1912, Wouters wrote: “We went to Mechelen for a week.” In that version, the tree has more and greener leaves. In the next version, the leaves are yellower. This canvas was painted at a sunnier moment.
Their correspondence reveals that Lévy and Wouters regularly exchanged paintings. It also shows that Wouters was often dissatisfied with his own work (see also ZAAL Z, no. 32, p. 54). In a postscript dated 29 October 1913, he wrote: “Once your frames are ready, I’ll send you the paintings. And if you have a moment, send me back the small ‘Landscape of Mechelen,’ the one with that tree. Thanks in advance.” Whether Simon Lévy complied with this request is unknown. But until 1957, The Old Walnut Tree B was part of his collection. On the frame of the painting, the Frenchman wrote: “Ce tableau est une œuvre de Rik Wouters que je tiens directement de lui.” (“This painting is a work by Rik Wouters that I received directly from him.”)
The Old Walnut Tree B entered the KMSKA collection in 1989 through the Van Bogaert-Sheid bequest. In addition to paintings and sculptures by Old Masters, Dr. Ludo van Bogaert donated primarily works by Rik Wouters: 13 paintings, 6 watercolours, 2 pastels, 25 drawings, and 8 sculptures. Also included were various Wouters-related artefacts, such as brushes, a watercolour box, colour tests on newspaper, his wallet, and the last cigar of the young artist who died too soon.
This article previously appeared in ZAAL Z, the museum's magazine. For as little as 35 euros you will receive four editions that will immerse you in the fascinating world of the museum and its magnificent collection.
