Jef (Jozef) Clerens was a painter and watercolorist of landscapes, views of towns and villages, views of the beguinages of Aalst, Bruges and Mechelen. In the 19th and 20th centuries, many painters were drawn to go outside with their easels and immortalize landscapes and buildings on canvas. Grimbergen was very accessible to painters and tourists from Brussels: there was a good tram connection, there were numerous inns and they found the peace they lacked in the city. A rich collection of Grimberg landscape paintings dates from this period. His paintings often have an impressionistic touch. He is best known for painting Flemish beguinages, landscapes and village scenes. He has exhibited, among other things, with the Cercle La Guirlande in Brussels in 1909.

A painting, watercolor on fine paper marouflaged on cardboard, is shown, depicting a colorful bouquet of flowers in a crystal vase, with sapphire blue enamel. The vase stands on a square canvas with an art deco type motif. The work is signed at the bottom with “Jef . Cleerens”. The work is framed in a beautiful gilded Art Nouveau frame and protected by Plexiglas. It is believed to be dated around 1910-20.

Condition: good.