Sir George Clausen (1852-1944) ✽ British artist

Sir George Clausen RA (18 April 1852 -- 1944) was born in London, the son of a decorative artist. From 1867 to1873 he attended the design classes at the South Kensington Schools in London with great success. He then worked in the studio of Edwin Long RA, and subsequently in Paris under Bouguereau and Robert Fleury. He was an admirer of the naturalism of the painter Jules Bastien-Lepage; about whom he wrote in 1888 and 1892. Clausen became one of the foremost modern painters of landscape and of peasant life, influenced to a certain extent by the impressionists, with whom he shared the view that light is the real subject of landscape art. His pictures excel in rendering the appearance of things under flecking outdoor sunlight, or in the shady shelter of a barn or stable. His Girl at the Gate was acquired by the Chantrey Trustees and is now at the Tate Gallery. In 1895 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, and a full Academician in 1906. ♡♡♡♡♡♡