"Port of Ostend, Belgium"

Beautiful oil on mahogany panel painting of the bustling Port of Ostend in Belgium by Louis Clesse. Signed lower right and dated 1942. Titled verso and signed again by the artist verso. Condition is very good. The painting is housed in a period frame in fine original condition. Overall framed measurements are 28 by 31.5 inches. Provenance: Doyle’s, New York City.


The Port of Ostend is situated in Ostend, West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The port services freight transport between Ostend and Ramsgate, Ipswich and North Killingholme Haven. Passenger transport between Ostend and Ramsgate was provided by Transeuropa Ferries from 1998 to 2013. Wikipedia

Louis Clesse
1907-1961 Belgian
Louis Clesse was a Belgian who was born and died in Elsene, Brussels. Clesse became celebrated for his post-impressionistic paintings and watercolors of landscapes and harbor scenes. He studied at the Academy of Ixelles (or Elsene). With advice and encouragement of A.E. Bastien Claus, he made his exhibition entry in the Brussels Salon of 1907. He painted landscape in the Zonien forest in the Zennevaliei and Ontario. Clesses formed a workshop in 1932 Oudenburg the market (now an upscale restaurant coffee shop: Louis Clessé) from which he studied the coast, the port, countryside villages in and around Bruges. He was a printmaker of handsome architectural/landscape aquatints and lithographic images. His works received a retrospective exhibition in 1969 in Oudergem and in 1973 in Brussels. He was a member of the Cercle et Artistque Literary (Cercle Gaulois), was a member of the purchasing committee of the Museum of Ixelles (Elsene). His works are represented in the Museum of Antwerp Brussels, Ixelles, Reims, Algiers, Cairo, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco and Tokyo.