Flemish Expressionism

[1] Contrary to the more rebellious and erotic nature of many German Expressionist works, the Flemish art of the School of Latem was more oriented towards the farming life, and was expressed in earthy colours and vigorous brushwork.

[1] It was also in general more oriented towards France and Brussels than to Germany, and incorporated elements of Fauvism and Cubism, for example the interest in "primitive" art, of both the ethnic and folk traditions.

From 1905 Servaes' art gradually moved away from the impressionism and luminism of the previous generation of Flemish artists towards a darker palette and a mystical tension.

[4] This version of Flemish Expressionism, influenced by constructivism, futurism and cubism, continued after the war in the short-lived art colony in Blaricum, where van den Berghe and De Smet joined Jozef Cantré.

In the 1920s, while Permeke, De Smet and Van den Berghe painted in Ghent, at the European level it was Brussels which became closely associated with the evolving Flemish Expressionist scene.