Gustave De Smet

*Parade* (1922) is one of the major figurative works painted by Gust De Smet in the early 1920s. The artist from Ghent was still living in the Netherlands at the time, having moved there at the start of the First World War. It was whilst in exile there, exposed to various modernist movements – Fauvism, Cubism, Expressionism… – that De Smet underwent his most significant formal evolution towards a distinctive style of his own, evident here. In Parade, his assimilation of Cubism is revealed through the synthetic and geometric treatment now favoured by the artist to depict a scene of popular entertainment. The circus big top in the background is suggested by a simple cone, the dancers’ breasts by concentric circles… By stripping the image down to its essentials, De Smet intensifies the painting’s expressive power, a quest first embarked upon by the German Expressionists. Unlike the latter, who readily allowed themselves to be guided by their emotional impulses to produce convulsive forms, the Belgian artist refined and mastered his composition, organised through broad vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines. De Smet populated his pictorial plane with sculptural figures, modelled through a subtle gradation of tones. These are not individualised beings that De Smet brings to life here: the artist arrives at his ‘typical figure’, with its large almond-shaped eyes, furrowed brow and slender nose. Once again, De Smet’s inspirations are manifold, ranging from Egyptian art (the depiction of the face in profile, with the body facing forward) to woodcut (the division of the face into a light and a dark area). The figures blend perfectly into their surroundings, a effect facilitated by the palette of browns and ochres, which ties the various elements together. This unity is characteristic of De Smet’s work; as an expressionist, he sought harmony rather than a confrontation with harsh reality, an approach more often pursued by his peers. 

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