George Clausen

The son of a Danish interior decorator and a mother of Scottish descent, George Clausen was born in London in 1852. He initially studied at the South Kensington School of Design and then at the Antwerp Academy in Belguim. He also studied for a short period of time in Paris at the Académie Julian. Clausen admired the work of the French artist Jules Bastien-Lepage, a master of plein air painting who exerted a strong influence on many Irish and English artists. This interest coincided with Clausen’s move out of London to the countryside near St Albans and was reflected in his art by pictures of farm workers and the rural landscape. Clausen was a founder member of the New English Art Club which promoted new approaches to painting inspired by recent art developments on the Continent. In 1904 he published Six Lectures on Painting and in 1906 Aims and Ideals in Art which were based on popular lectures he delivered in his role as professor of painting at the Royal Academy School. In 1927 he was knighted for his services to art.

George Clausen was appointed an Official War Artist in 1917 and soon after was assigned to the Woolwich arsenal. His painting In the Gun Factory at Woolwich Arsenal (1918, Collection: Imperial War Museum) is regarded as one of the more successful works commissioned by the Ministry of Information. The lithograph No. 29 The Radial Crane is very similar to this painting and confirms the setting of these works as being at Woolwich. The armaments subject matter with its emphasis on heavy industry and the making of immensely destructive machines is in stark contrast to the bucolic nature of much of Clausen’s work overall such as The Haymaker: A Study in Shadows (1904) in this Gallery’s collection. However, Clausen retains his great interest in portraying dramatic contrasts of light and shade and this is particularly evident in the lithograph The Furnace where the foreground figure is silhouetted against the bright white-hot molten metal exploding forth. The lithograph Where the Guns are Made also offers the opportunity for emphasising changing atmospheric effects caused by the thick black smoke flowing continuously from the many tall chimneys dominating the skyline.

Jessica O'Donnell

George Clausen was born in London in 1852. In his mid-teens he began work in the draughting office of his father's decorating firm and then went on to study furniture design at South Kensington School of Design. After deciding to pursue a career in painting, Clausen worked as an apprentice in the studio of Edwin Long in London and Bouguereau in Paris. He found his greatest source of inspiration in the work of Bastien-Lepage and from 1881 onwards began exhibiting rural-subject paintings of extraordinary naturalism at the Royal Academy. His status as a successful artist, was confirmed when the Chantrey Bequest purchased his The Girl at the Gate (1889) for the Tate Gallery. Clausen was a founder member of the New English Art Club in 1886 and served as Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy from 1904-06. His naturalistic style led to him being appointed one of the official war artists during the First World War. In 1927, upon completion of an important commission for the decoration of St Stephen's Hall, he was knighted.

Reference: Images and Insights Exh. Cat. (Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin 1993), 222.

The son of a Danish interior decorator and a mother of Scottish descent, George Clausen was born in London in 1852. He initially studied at the South Kensington School of Design and then at the Antwerp Academy in Belguim. He also studied for a short period of time in Paris at the Académie Julian. Clausen admired the work of the French artist Jules Bastien-Lepage, a master of plein air painting who exerted a strong influence on many Irish and English artists. This interest coincided with Clausen’s move out of London to the countryside near St Albans and was reflected in his art by pictures of farm workers and the rural landscape. Clausen was a founder member of the New English Art Club which promoted new approaches to painting inspired by recent art developments on the Continent. In 1904 he published Six Lectures on Painting and in 1906 Aims and Ideals in Art which were based on popular lectures he delivered in his role as professor of painting at the Royal Academy School. In 1927 he was knighted for his services to art.

George Clausen was appointed an Official War Artist in 1917 and soon after was assigned to the Woolwich arsenal. His painting In the Gun Factory at Woolwich Arsenal (1918, Collection: Imperial War Museum) is regarded as one of the more successful works commissioned by the Ministry of Information. The lithograph No. 29 The Radial Crane is very similar to this painting and confirms the setting of these works as being at Woolwich. The armaments subject matter with its emphasis on heavy industry and the making of immensely destructive machines is in stark contrast to the bucolic nature of much of Clausen’s work overall such as The Haymaker: A Study in Shadows (1904) in this Gallery’s collection. However, Clausen retains his great interest in portraying dramatic contrasts of light and shade and this is particularly evident in the lithograph The Furnace where the foreground figure is silhouetted against the bright white-hot molten metal exploding forth. The lithograph Where the Guns are Made also offers the opportunity for emphasising changing atmospheric effects caused by the thick black smoke flowing continuously from the many tall chimneys dominating the skyline.