From: Sotheby's
In 1900, after art studies in his native city of Ghent, Gustave Van de Woestyne (1881-1947) settled in Sint-Martens-Latem, on the banks of the Leie river, where an artistic colony of poets, painters and sculptors had formed in search of an innovative and meaningful artistic expression.
His admiration for the technique and spirituality of the Flemish old masters led him to develop an art of mystic-religious symbolism and allegory.
He also drew inspiration from the Italian Primitives, Maurice Denis and fresco painting and became one of the figures of the "First School of Larthem".