PROGRESS IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES Belgium.—Belgium, being a near neighbour of France, has naturally been susceptible to the influence of the various move ments in Paris. There was the definite influence of Impressionism on such painters as Emile Claus, A. J. Heymans and, to some extent, James Ensor, but, as in France, there was the inevitable reaction against such influence. This was expressed at first in the work of a certain group of painters who, before the war, con centrated and worked at Loethem St. Martin, a village in the Valley of the Lys, in the district of Ghent. They gathered round the sculptor George Miune, whose home was in the neigh bourhood. The chief members of the group were Valerins de Medelsar, Gustave Van de Woestyne, Constant Permeke, Albert Servaes, Gustave de Smet, Fritz Van der Berghe and Albert Saverys. This group was influenced by the German Expressionism.
The influence of Cezanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh was especially strong, particularly in Brussels and its neighbourhood. Rik Wouters, a prominent follower of Cezanne, became an artist of a very personal quality. He, with Auguste Oleffe, exercised, considerable influence on the Brussels school, which, after Ex pressionism, sought a more synthetic art.
The chief painters of the Brussels group are Phil Cocks, W. Paerels, A. Dekat, C. Dehoy, R. Parent, J. Brusselmans and J. Albert. E. Laermans, a Brussels painter, is the leader of the Syn thetic School. Several artists of distinction can be said to belong to no definite school. Opromes and Daeye, at Antwerp; Millaert at Ostend, Tytgat at Brussels. Among the painters who may be described as traditional or academic, may be mentioned Delaunois of Louvain, L. Frederic of Brussels, Rossenfosse of Liege, Franz Heus of Antwerp and Jacob Smits of Moll.
Holland.—The Dutch genius is very far remote from that of France. In the whole history of the art of the Netherlands there is no strong evidence of direct French influence. The Dutch char acter leans towards a sort of intimate realism and even in their grandest and most inspiring moments their artists have never forsaken that essential character.
The Maris family had a certain following but theirs was a triumph of individuality and personal feeling rather than the ex ploitation of new ideas or the submission of extraneous forces. The subjects made popular by Jacob and Willem Maris were national and homely in character. Among the best modern paint ers may be numbered Jan Toorop (1858-1928) ; Monincken dam, an artist whose admiration for Rembrandt is reflected in all his work, even in his still-life subjects which represent a great part of his work. Lizzy Ansingh, a gifted painter with a rather unusual phantasy, is influenced by the Russian Ballet if by anything. A group, which practised an abstract form of painting, suggestive of stained glass windows composed exclusively of geometric shapes, included Van Doesburg, P. Mondrian, Van der Leck, Vilmos Huszar and Van Tongerloo.
Scandinavia.—Among the northern nations, the influence of Munich has been stronger than that of Paris. Both in Norway and Sweden the prevailing character is that of a vigorous and personal realism. In painting, Sweden has probably been more active than Norway, although the latter country has had some notable painters who have not risen, however, above a certain respectable level. Edvard Munch is probably the greatest of their painters. He has been influenced by both Matisse and Marquet, particularly the former. Dagfin Werenskiold, a painter of character, whose "Peasant Family" was shown in London at the Norwegian Exhibition in 1928, would appear to be influenced by Van Gogh, although his strong and personal work is the result of a direct and uncompromising perception. The landscapes of Harold Sohlberg and Henrik Sorensen are notable; those of the former being lyrical and reflective, while the latter's show a rugged sincerity. Per Krohg, who is considered to be one of the most modern in technique, displays a certain vulgarity which is certainly more German than French. He executed decorative panels for the Grand Hotel Restaurant in Oslo.