Valerius de Saedeleer

Valerius de Saedeleer or Valerius De Saedeleer (4 August 1867 – 16 September 1941) was a Belgian landscape painter, whose works are informed by a symbolist and mystic-religious sensitivity and the traditions of 16th-century Flemish landscape painting. He was one of the main figures in the so-called first School of Latem which in the first decade of the 20th century introduced modernist trends in Belgian painting and sculpture.

Valerius de Saedeleer was born in Aalst, Belgium as the son of a small businessman who operated a soda and soap making factory. As a result of conflicts with his parents and problems at school, he left school at age fifteen and was forced by his father to study an acceptable profession. To this end, he was employed as an apprentice at a Ghent weaving workshop and took classes in weaving at an industrial school in Ghent. Without his parents' knowledge he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, where he met Theo van Rysselberghe and George Minne.

Unhappy with the academic teaching at the Ghent Academy, he moved to Brussels where he studied for four years with the impressionist landscape painter Franz Courtens. He then started working as an independent artist. In his early work, the artist remained indebted to his teacher Courtens and was influenced by Emile Claus. This showed he still searching for his own style.

On 14 November 1889 the young artist married in Aalst Clementina 'Clemmeke' Limpens (1867-1930), a grocer's daughter from Erembodegem, near Aalst. They had five daughters, of which the second, Elisabeth de Saedeleer (1902-1972), became an artist in her own right. The father of de Saedeleer's wife gave her a large sum of money as dowry. The young couple used the funds to establish a grocery in Blankenberge. The bankruptcy that followed quickly led to the couple's wandering and destitute existence.

They lived for short periods in Blankenberge, Wenduine, Damme and Ghent. In 1892 the couple lived in Afsnee, near Ghent, where de Saedeleer met Albijn Van den Abeele. Albijn Van den Abeele was the town clerk of Sint-Marten-Latem (often referred to by its shorter form 'Latem') and an amateur painter. He arranged for cheap lodging for artists in Sint-Marten-Latem and thereby supported the launch of one of the most important artistic movements in early 20th century Belgium. From April to October 1893 de Saedeleer lived in Sint-Martens-Latem. Here he reconnected with his friend George Minne and met the young student and aspiring poet Karel van de Woestijne. Between 1895 and 1898 de Saedeleer and his wife lived in Lissewege where they raised chickens.

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